Alligator pays surprise visit to local homeowner’s patio
Following a 911 call to the police department, officers were dispatched to the home where a 2 ½ foot alligator was lounging in front on the patio. Their arrival followed a conversation with an officer on duty who had some doubts about the accuracy of the caller's description.
According to a posting on the Romulus Police Facebook page, the recorded call began:
Homeowner: “Yes, uhm... (faint laughter in the background) I live over at ********, and there is a crocodile or an alligator on my back patio.”
Romulus Police Department: “Can you send a picture of it?”
Woman: - “Sure.”
Romulus Police Department: “Well, I'll be. DISPATCH!”
Responding officers noted that the animal's mouth was wired shut and called Mark Rosenthal of Animal Magic, a DNR-certified rehabilitator from Belleville, who works with police in these situations. The alligator was successfully captured and transported to Rosenthal's animal sanctuary. No injuries were reported.
The alligator, renamed Navigator, was about 2 years old and was probably a pet, Rosenthal said.
He said the alligator obviously did not come from any wild habitat but probably from a pet shop or had been smuggled from Florida.
“We'll never know. He can't talk, so we'll never know the story behind him,” Rosenthal said.”
Rosenthal said once the alligator reaches about 7 or 7 ½ feet in length, and weighs about 500 pounds or so, about half his full growth, it will be transported to a licensed zoo. He cautioned anyone about attempting to keep an alligator as a pet.
“Nobody in the history of the world has ever raised up an alligator or a crocodile to an adult and kept it friendly,” Rosenthal said. “These are killing machines.”
Romulus police posted a notice reminding residents that it is illegal to possess an alligator in Romulus.
