Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Gator Goes to the Beach—on Long Island

Traveling pillowcase proves to contain 2½-foot male reptile

By Will McCahill, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 29, 2007 3:38 PM CDT

(Newser) – And you thought your Halloween costume was scary: A pillowcase found wriggling in a Long Island parking lot early yesterday turned out to contain a 2½-foot male alligator. An official from the town of Babylon found the creature near a beach, Newsday reports, with a message on the pillowcase: "Live Gator—Please find him a home."

The alligator is in good condition and bound for a zoo outside New York, where owning gators is illegal; the ex-owner could face charges for abandoning the potentially dangerous animal. The man who found him is also a peace officer for the Suffolk County SPCA, which the AP reports is soliciting donations to help with the animal's care.

[Images (3)]

[Videos (1)]

(Index Stock image)

(Index Stock)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Python vs Alligator (methylene5 (YouTube))

View larger videos >>

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Floridians Gang Up on New Neighbor: 8-Foot Gator

Said to have come from local canal

(NEWSER) - Residents of a South Florida town found a surprise visitor in their pool last night: an 8-foot alligator. Someone—nobody owned up—tied the creature to a tree with an extension cord before calling for help, the Miami Herald reports. When deputies arrived, a crowd of 30 was ogling the gator; police called a trapper to collect it. "It thought it was home," said a sheriff's office rep. "We live in the Everglades. The alligators were here long before us." More»

South Jersey Man Finds Gator on Side the Road

No explantion where 4-foot, 60-to-80-pound beast in cage came from

(NEWSER) - A South Jersey man spotted something unusual on his way to work yesterday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports: a caged alligator on the side of a road. Fred Schubert decided to help out the 4-foot, 60-to-80-pound beast, loading the cage into his pickup. After calling several wildlife agencies, an official came to Schubert’s and collected the animal—but offered no explanation of how it’d gotten lost. More»

Gator Caught—in Chicago?

Five-foot reptile apprehended in the Chicago River; probably a discarded pet

(NEWSER) - Alligator wranglers may not be the busiest of folks in metro Chicago, but they came through yesterday by yanking a 5-foot unwelcome visitor out of the Chicago River, the Tribune reports. The healthy female, probably a discarded pet, is on her way to a sanctuary in the Southeast. More»

Balmy, With a Chance of Pythons

Dumped American pets thriving in wild on global warming

(NEWSER) - Burmese pythons could rapidly establish a stranglehold on the southern US due in part to snake-loving global warming, according to a new government report. With climate change and more pet owners releasing unwanted snakes into the wild, the adaptable serpent could soon call home any area from Northern California through the Southwest, deep South and Atlantic Coast, reports USA Today. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Gator Goes to the Beach—on Long Island