...as another is spotted swimming in Chicago River
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/wor...s-Chicago-River-crawling-New-York-street.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/wor...s-Chicago-River-crawling-New-York-street.html
It is the last thing you'd expect to stumble across on a busy city street.
But one shocked New York pedestrian called emergency services after spotting an alligator prowling along the road.
The 14inch-long reptile, which is less than a year old, decided to hide under a Datsun car.
A baby alligator hides under a car in New York before being seized by animal care workers
With a little coaxing, animal care experts removed the alligator after he was caught by surprised members of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit.
Michael Pastore, field operations director of Animal Care and Control, said he believed that the baby reptile was ditched on the street because of New York State's laws against possessing wild animals.
'He did let out a couple of little yelps,' Mr Pastore told the New York Daily News.
Michael Pastore of Animal Care & Control holds the young critter, believed to be less than a year old, found in New York
A 3ft-long alligator swims along the Chicago River. The second of the reptiles to be found in the city this month, it is attracting scores of curious onlookers
'And if you've ever seen a nature show, a baby alligator would let out a little yelp to the mother when it is in trouble.'
The alligator is now being looked after at the Animal Care and Control centre.
Richard Gentles, a spokesman for the centre, said it would likely be taken to a licensed rehabilitator or reptile sanctuary.
He said the agency rescues two to four alligators, crocodiles or caimans in the city every year.
In 2006, authorities captured a 15inch alligator at an apartment building in Brooklyn.
And in 2001, a 2ft-long caiman was found living in a lake in Central Park.
Over the years, there have been rumours of alligators living in the sewers of the city but no real tangible evidence has emerged recently.
But New York isn't the only American city to have alligator fever after residents in central Chicago spotted the midwest city's second reptile in a month swimming in the Chicago River.
The 3ft-long alligator has attracted crowds of curious Chicago residents, eager to catch a glimpse of their new neighbour.
Earlier this month a Chicago Herpetological Society volunteer captured a 2.5ft alligator. Both are also believed to be abandoned pets.
The society hopes to catch the latest alligator soon because it will not be able to survive the harsh Chicago winter.
'They think they're doing a good thing by dumping an alligator in the river because they think it will survive here,' an animal wrangler for the society identified only as Bob told CBS News. 'Realistically it will not.'
Chicago's branch of the Animal Care and Control organisation are discouraging residents from purchasing the alligators, but are stressing their 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' policy which asks owners who find they can no longer care for their pets to drop them off at a shelter, rather than abandoning them.
LEGEND OF THE 'SEWER ALLIGATOR'...
Since the 1930s, there have been tales of alligators living in the sewers of New York City.
Now the stuff of urban folklore, the original story spoke of wealthy families bringing the reptiles home with them from holiday as pets.
When the creatures became too big, they would be flushed down the toilet and make a new home in the sewers.
Living off vermin and food waste, they would become huge - giving rise to monstrous 'sightings' by sewer workers.
There have even been reports of blind, albino alligators down in the drains - their pigmentation and eyesight affected by a lack of sunlight.
US TV show Monster Quest recently sent a probe into the sewers of NYC to see if gators could live and breed in the damp, squalid conditions.
But all it found were worms, slugs, cockroaches... and a fat salamander.
