From: Greg Schmitz (gws1@columbia.edu)
Date: 12/12/02-09:51:31 PM Z
[I write this with apologies to those from New York who already know
about the following incident. But I thought it important that the
people of the world know about it too because the rest of the world
always belittles New York for not REALLY having any alligators. -gws]
Sandy - for the record, just what kind of cactus have you been
chewing? Of course there are alligators (and sharks) in New York.
O.K. it's off topic, but it is the Holiday season. So here are a few
recent headlines from my neck of the woods (New York); all are from
"reputable" news sources I might add. I put the gator in Central Park
story at the end:
*** The New York Times, August 4, 2001, Saturday, Late Edition -
Final, Section B; Page 2; Column 3; Metropolitan Desk, 313 words,
Surprise at U.P.S.: Alligator-in-the-Box, By NICHOLE M. CHRISTIAN
*** The Associated Press State & Local Wire, July 14, 2001, Saturday,
BC cycle, State and Regional, 98 words, Dead shark found in Queens
creek, NEW YORK
*** The Associated Press State & Local Wire, June 27, 2001, Wednesday,
BC cycle, State and Regional, 458 words, Wild rat is downfall for
hungry, 4-foot alligator caught in upstate New York creek, By CAROLYN
THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer, BUFFALO, N.Y.
*** The New York Times, June 22, 2001, Friday, Late Edition - Final,
Section B; Page 3; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk, 290 words, Myth of
Alligator Is Dispelled When Team Captures Caiman, By BARBARA STEWART.
*** The Associated Press State & Local Wire, June 22, 2001, Friday, BC
cycle, State and Regional, 585 words, Alligator man catches reptile in
Central Park, By CHAKA FERGUSON, Associated Press Writer, NEW YORK
HEADLINE: Alligator man catches reptile in Central Park
BYLINE: By CHAKA FERGUSON, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: NEW YORK
An alligator wrestler from Florida and his wife made good on their
word to capture an elusive crocodilian creature roaming the waters of
Central Park within 48 hours, plucking the 2-foot-long reptile out of
a lake barehanded in less than 20 minutes.
Mike Bailey and his wife, Tina, armed with flashlights and paddling in
a canoe, yanked the baby caiman, which was initially thought to be an
alligator, from the shore of the Harlem Meer late Thursday night. The
reptile had been on the loose since Saturday.
"For this situation, he was a pretty easy catch," said Mike Bailey, a
23-year-old wildlife worker from the Seminole Tribe's reservation near
Hollywood, Fla. "As I said earlier, as long as you can visualize and
see them, they are not too hard to get hold of."
The Baileys showed up at the park at 9:30 p.m. and briefly surveyed
the lake where the creature, a spectacled caiman, a member of the
crocodile family, had been spotted. They hopped into a canoe and shone
a flashlight in the reeds while they circled the lake.
After about 15 minutes, they stopped the canoe at the lake's northern
end. Tina Bailey lunged into the reeds and emerged with the reptile in
her clutches. There was no struggle.
"She managed to slip her hand up about this close and reach down and
catch him, nice and gentle," Mike Bailey said. "No hooks, no ropes -
we try to be humane as possible."
"It was really easy," Tina Bailey said.
After the capture, Mike Bailey held the caiman overhead like a trophy
and made a victory lap of the lake while people took pictures.
"I wouldn't consider him dangerous at all," Mike Bailey said.
The reptile, nicknamed Damon the Caiman by park officials, will remain
at the Central Park zoo until a permanent home can be found for him,
the city Parks Department said in a news release Friday.
"We will be guided by the best interest of the caiman," parks
Commissioner Henry Stern said in a statement.
Mike Bailey arrived on his first trip to New York with much hoopla
from a publicist, who promised that as a skilled alligator handler who
did four shows a day at the Florida tourist attraction, Bailey would
need no more than 48 hours to retrieve the animal.
Stern praised Bailey for his quick work and thorough knowledge of
caimans, crocodiles and alligators.
"The secret of good government is to get the best man to do the job,"
Stern said, standing next to Bailey.
Stern said the Central Park reptile probably was a pet of somebody who
dumped it in the Harlem Meer after it got too big. The same thing
happened four years ago, when a pet alligator outgrew its owner's
bathtub and was dumped in Kissena Lake in Queens, he said.
The caiman was first sighted by a number of people along the shore of
the Harlem Meer, a picturesque, 1-acre lake at the extreme northern
end of Central Park. It was momentarily pulled out but fled back into
the water and had not been seen again until Wednesday night.
Bailey, who said he has wrestled alligators as long as 13 feet, said
the 2-foot caiman was probably about 2 years old. Adult caimans are
about 8 feet long and can weigh up to 300 pounds.
The reptile wrestler said he was surprised at the ruckus the small
animal has caused in New York.
"Back home in Florida, this is an everyday occurrence for people to
have alligators or caimans actually in their backyards, lakes canals
and sometimes in swimming pools and under their cars," he said. "But
up here in the city, I would imagine this is a rare thing."
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : 01/31/03-09:31:25 AM Z CST