
Sep 9, 2005 5:41 am US/Pacific
Urban Alligator Hunt Continues
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
One urban alligator down, one to go. A 3-foot-long gator dubbed Little Reggie was caught Thursday night in a Harbor City flood control channel, but its wily, much bigger namesake remained on the loose.
Word of a gator sighting drew firefighters to the channel, where one leaned out on a truck-mounted ladder to snare Little Reggie in a hand-held net, Los Angeles city fire spokesman Jim Wells said.
"We've gone out on (calls regarding) boa constrictors, snakes.
I cannot recall a rescue of an alligator," Wells said.
The gator was discovered Tuesday by a resident of the Harbor City Estates mobile home park when he ventured down to feed turtles and ducks that live in the channel.
The gator avoided several attempts by would-be wranglers to lasso it with a noose-like device on Wednesday. It used its powerful tail to zoom away at the last moment, ducking under masses of floating primrose.
Little Reggie was named for a 7-foot-long, 150-pound alligator named Reggie that was dumped in a nearby lake several months ago and has not yet been caught.
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