Man saves dog from alligator - upi.com

22 May 2011

PALM BEACH, Fla., May 22 (UPI) -- A retired Florida construction worker says his lifetime of hard work gave him the strength needed to pull his dog out of an alligator's jaws.

Gary Murphy, 72, told TCPalm.com he isn't a hero. "I just wanted my dog back."

Murphy was working on a boat Thursday when he saw his 11-year-old West Highland White Terrier in the jaws of an alligator. He immediately jumped on the gator's back and hit it on the head until it released the dog.

"It was like landing on a pile of rocks," he said about jumping on the alligator. "If your kid was in the water with its head in a gator's mouth, what would you do?"

When the alligator released the dog, Murphy scooped it up and ran inside his home. He took the dog to an animal hospital the next day, where it was treated for a compressed lung and cuts and puncture wounds to its back and stomach.

Murphy said his healthy lifestyle and having a background in construction gave him the strength to rescue his dog.

Murphy said his wife, who was out of town when the incident happened, asked him a single question.

"Are you nuts?" she asked.

Alligator Found In NY Yard - ecanadanow.com

21 May 2011

A resident in western New York stunned local authorities when he called to report that there was an alligator loose in his yard.

Authorities in the city of Jamestown, New York received the call in the morning about an 3-foot long alligator being loose on a resident’s property. Animal control was able to capture the alligator without any problems. Authorities do not yet know where the alligator came from or how long it had been on the loose in the neighborhood.

Animal experts warn against keeping alligators for pets. People often buy them when they are small, but when they get to big and become dangerous they set them free outside instead of calling the proper authorities. Anybody that has a alligator for a pet and is trying to get rid of it should contact their local animal control agency.

DEC seizes alligator, python from Syracuse home - cnycentral.com

20 May 2011

SYRACUSE -- The state DEC made quite a discovery inside a syracuse home Friday morning.

"Howard," a six-foot-long alligator, and "Sponge bob," an eight-foot-long burmese python, were seized without incident.

DEC officials say Paul Bailey of Massena Street raised the alligator for nine years after buying him from a now-closed pet store on Erie Boulevard.

It was against the law to even sell the alligator.

Officials say, Bailey bought the python off Craigs list two years ago.

The snake is now with a Rochester rehab facility and the alligator will be placed in the Seneca Park Zoo.

Alligator takes a weekend trip to Marco beach - naplesnews.com

May 16 2011

MARCO ISLAND — They’ve turned up in swimming pools, front porches — even a Florida woman’s bathroom earlier this year.

This weekend it was Marco Island’s turn for a reptilian close encounter.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Marco Island police captured a 6-foot alligator Saturday afternoon in the surf in front of the Admiralty House condominium, south of Tigertail Beach. The animal was relocated, FWC spokeswoman Gabriella Ferraro said.

While they don’t live in the Gulf of Mexico, alligators can accidentally find their way there looking for food or a new home as the weather warms, experts say. A trip to the Gulf is more likely when tidal streams and bays are less saline after rainstorms.

An alligator on Marco’s beach thrilled onlookers, including a visitor from Louisville who snapped pictures of the capture.

“I have been coming to Marco Island for 35 years and have never seen this happen,” Joanie Echsner wrote in an email.

Alligator is an unexpected visitor at a local bed & breakfast - winknews.com

16 May 2011

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla.- Clift McMahon is used to hosting vacationers at his Port Charlotte bed & breakfast. But early Saturday morning, he and wife Joanne, got the surprise of their career.

"All the sudden I heard a thump thump. I was only five foot from the door. I look over to the door and I couldn't believe my eyes, there was an alligator trying to get into the house," Clift McMahon said on Monday.

After shooing away the 5 foot, 6 inch gator... it decided to take a dip in their gardening pond.

"He tore all the lilies out, he tore the plumbing out, he tore the electrical lighting out of it," McMahon said.

The alligator didn't budge-- instead, it snacked on McMahon's prized Koi fish and sunbathed! Ten hours later, a trapper showed up to remove the uninvited guest.

"We don't discriminate, but this is one we discriminated against. He had to go!" McMahon said.

Turns out, the gator wasn't looking to check out. After an hour fight, McMahon and the trapper caught the critter and released him into a more suitable place to call home. A first--and hopefully last-- rowdy reptile making a stay at the McMahon's.

"No guest like this. All our guests have been pretty nice and tolerable. But this guy was just a little on the intimidating side," McMahon said.

Wildlife officials later released the alligator back into the wild, at the Peace River Canoe Trail in Charlotte County.

Angry Alligator Caught on L.I.E. - msnbc.msn.com

16 May 2011

An agitated adult alligator was discovered and captured by police Monday morning at the height of rush hour on a busy highway on Long Island.

Two drivers spotted the gator on the eastbound lane of the Long Island Expressway between exits 68 and 69, and called 911. Police responded to the call and discovered a moody reptile that was clearly out of its element.

The officers immediately called the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, but managed to contain it with plastic crates.

“It’s not something you hear coming over the radio everyday,” said Suffolk County police spokesman Michael Sharkey. “It’s a little unusual for Suffolk county.”

SPCA chief Roy Gross said the gator is now in custody, but still very dangerous.

“This gator is vicious,” Gross told NBC New York. “It’s more than 3 feet long and has been eating very well. We’re not letting anyone near the gator.”

The gator was located on the south side of the lane and likely ventured up to the road from the woods, police said. Where it came from before that is a mystery.

It was likely purchased as a baby, then abandoned once it became too big to keep, according to Sharkey.

It is illegal to own, possess and abandon wild animals in New York State, including alligators.

The SPCA is offering a $1,000 reward for information on who abandoned it.

Egypt's newest public wonder: the temple of the crocodile god - gadling.com

13 May 2011

Last week a new ancient site opened to the public in Egypt--a temple of the crocodile god Sobek. Medinet Madi is located in Egypt's Faiyum region, a fertile area around a lake at the end of a branch of the Nile called Bahr Yusuf ("The River of Joseph").

The temple features a long avenue lined with sphinxes and lions, plus an incubation room for hatching the eggs of sacred crocodiles. You'd think these crocs would live the good life, splashing around the swamps and gnawing on a sacrificial victim or two. Instead they were mummified and sold to pilgrims. Check out the gallery for a couple of photos of crocodile mummies. Sobek was one of the most important gods of ancient Egypt. He's generally pictured with the body of a man and the head of a crocodile. He's said to have created the Earth when he laid eggs in the primordial waters, and the Nile is supposed to be his sweat. He's the god of the Nile, the Faiyum, and of course crocodiles. In ancient times the Nile and the lush wetlands of the Faiyum were full of crocodiles. The people prayed to Sobek to appease them. Because he was a fierce god, he was one of the patrons of the ancient Egyptian army. Sobek's temple at Medinet Madi was built by the pharaohs Amenemhat III (c.1859-1813 BC) and Amenemhat IV (c.1814-1805 BC) during Egypt's Middle Kingdom and expanded during the Ptolemaic period (332-30 BC) after Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great. The temple is also dedicated to the cobra-headed goddess Renenutet, who in some traditions was Sobek's wife. Despite her appearance, she was a much kinder deity than Sobek, a sort of mother goddess who nursed babies and gave them their magical True Name. Farmers liked her because cobras ate the rats that would eat their crops.

The new tourist site was funded by Italy, which coughed up €3.5 million ($5 million) to clear off the sand and restore the temple. Italian archaeologists have been working in the area for decades and in addition to the Sobek temple they've found

a Roman military camp and ten early Coptic Christian churches dating from the 5th-7th century AD. Medinet Madi isn't the only crocodile temple.

Not far away stands Crocodilopolis, where Egyptians honored the sacred crocodile Petsuchos by sticking gold and gemstones into its hide. There are several other Sobek temples along the Nile, the most impressive being Kom Ombo far to the south near Aswan. Kom Ombo is one of Egypt's most fascinating temples. It's rather new as Egyptian temples go--being founded in the second century BC by the Ptolemaic dynasty. Carvings of Sobek and other deities adorn the walls and columns. There are also some scenes from daily life. On the inner face of the outer corridor keep an eye out for a carving showing a frightening array of old surgeon's tools. Also check out the small shrine to Hathor in the temple compound where piles of sacred crocodiles from the nearby necropolis are kept.