Herp Report: Loose crocodilians
Are you really sure what you saw in that river? Some keen-eyed spotter was not quite as keen as he thought. The Crocodile of the English Channel? Nope, it was wood. From the BBC:
Coastguards in Dover and France say a large crocodile sighted in the English Channel was actually a piece of wood.
Officials have said that the wood probably did look like a crocodile from a distance.
Bathing in the sea in and around Boulogne-sur-Mer in France was suspended on Friday as a precaution while a search was conducted.
The claim of a crocodile sighting was made in a message which had been sent to a local newspaper, La Voix du Nord.
However, on that note, numerous alligators have been sighted and reclaimed by rescuers. As a board member of the Chicago Herpetological Society, I can only tell you that the number of phone calls to me while flying home from the NRBE in Daytona last week was insane. The second alligator in the Chicago River in a one month time period was being hunted and was eventually captured. Seriously, this is not the image we want people to have of us. This video shares the capture of the animal as well as a public plea not to release unwanted pets of any kind.
And at the same time, New York was dealing with its own alligator, although people were iffy on identification. From the NY Daily News:
A crocodile caused a commotion in Queens Sunday when it was cornered under a car.
Yes, a crocodile.
"Before you ask, no cops could confirm it came out of the sewer," said police spokesman James Duffy, referring to an urban legend that such reptiles live in the city's sewer system.
Duffy said it remained a mystery where the 2-foot-long baby reptile came from.
"No one's come forward and said, 'Hey, I lost a crocodile,'" said Duffy, adding that cops initially thought that the creature was an alligator.
Pictures of the creature suggest it might indeed be a gator, which have U-shaped snouts while crocodiles' are V-shaped.
Stories like this are becoming far too common. Our community really needs to expand its educational net.
