Alligator Spotted in Chicago River on Northwest Side

Chicago - An alligator was seen swimming in the Chicago River Monday in the Avondale neighborhood, the day after it was first spotted and less than three weeks after another gator was captured near the area.

• Update: "Alligator Bob" catches the gator >>

Residents crowded the shores to see the gator, and most of them didn’t seem very threatened.

“We saw a duck approach it, and it moved away from a duck,” Linda Braasch said.

The gator was originally noticed along the river on the Northwest Side Sunday; police searched the river but could not find it that night.

Chicagoan Sararose Krenger and her family spotted the alligator basking in the sun while they were boating on the North Branch of the river. Krenger says the gator was watching some ducks swim by.

Chicago police and members of the Chicago Herpetological Society estimate the alligator is about three feet long with teeth that are about a half-inch.

If they don't catch the alligator soon, it may die. That's because the water is around 65 degrees right now, much too cold for the alligator to maintain the 85 degree body temperature it needs to digest food.

Two weeks ago, a small 2 1/2 foot gator was found in the same area .

Animal control officers believe these alligators are former pets, dumped when they got too big to handle. But alligator owners do have other options.

"You could turn a gun you find in the street to a police station without a problem; turning in an alligator is like that," said an expert who would only give us the name "Alligator Bob." (He said if he tells us his real name, he'll be swamped with alligators dumped at his front door.) "But if an alligator is here-- look at the aggravation it's causing."

All the sightseers are making matters worse for animal control, since every time a kayaker comes close, the alligator dives to hide. They think it got enough sun on Monday to be motivated to go hunting, hopefully in one of the meat-laced traps.

Once it's caught, the alligator will be kept in quarantine for 60 to 90 days, then shipped to Florida and released into the wild.

Alligator Spotted in Chicago River | Originally Reported by myFOXchicago.com