BOSTON — It wasn’t an alligator, there was an alligator loose in Boston.
It seems that the story of the Saurian sliding into the city has a happy ending. A baby alligator spotted along Boston’s Charles River several times this week has been rescued and moved to safety, Massachusetts wildlife officials said Thursday.
The nearly foot-long crocodile startled some people and became an instant star on social media after confused onlookers filmed videos of it slithering out of sight. But the animal is not native to Massachusetts, and cannot survive the harsh New England winters, so the search for the stray alligator was ongoing.
Officials said a local wildlife educator captured the creature on Wednesday night, and it is now waiting for a forever home.
Harvard graduate student Whitney Lieberman was among the residents who caught a glimpse of the strange visitor. She said she notified wildlife authorities when she saw the creature while she was running to work.
“Yes, I double-checked. For a moment, I had to check myself – alligators aren’t native to Boston’s waterways, are they?” Lieberman said. “I texted my coworkers because I had a morning meeting: ‘Hey guys, this is a good excuse to be late for work. “There’s a crocodile right in front of me and I don’t know what to do.”
The animal was in danger due to cold temperatures on board the Charles, which reached 51 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) on Thursday. Alligators prefer temperatures above 80°F (27°C). They are cold-blooded and cannot regulate their temperature, so they enter an energy-saving state called hibernation bruise To survive cold temperatures.
Joe Kenney, who runs a wildlife education business called Joe’s Craz-zy Critters, caught the alligator, the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries and Wildlife said in a statement. The state has temporarily allowed Kenney to keep the alligator while it evaluates the best long-term location for him, the department said.
The Wildlife Department said the crocodile’s appearance was still under investigation, but added it was most likely an escaped pet or intentionally released.
“MassWildlife is working in close collaboration with Environmental Police to find a safe home for this alligator as an education animal with a permitted facility,” state herpetologist Mike Jones said in a statement. “This incident serves as an important reminder that it is not legal to keep alligators or any type of alligator as pets in Massachusetts.”
Crocodiles have a history of occasionally appearing in urban areas far from their native areas. One appeared, dubbed Chance the Snapper Chicago in summer 2019 They were eventually surrounded. Another one appeared on the Charles River in the Boston area in 2010.
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Whittle reported from Scarborough, Maine.