Are the urban legends about alligators in the New York sewers true? No, definitely not, but there was an alligator roaming a Manhattan street yesterday until police caught up with him.
One local resident believed the three-foot "crocodile" swam up from the nearby Harlem River, though authorities believe the American Alligator was someone's pet that either got loose or was set loose, according to the New York Times.
Alligators are not native to New York, unlike Florida, where they live in pretty much every river, mud puddle and Wal-Mart. In fact, some in the state even support making the alligator an official currency.
Update 07/25/15: The New York Times reports the alligator died Friday morning. Affectionately named CockadoodleQ by Manhattan Animal Care Center workers, where it was taken and placed in an “aquarium-type setting” with a “supplemental heat element” after being found, CockadoodleQ’s cause of death is unknown.
Manhattan Animal Care Center spokeswoman Alexandra Silver said in a statement,
Deputy Inspector Chris Morello told the New York Daily News CockadoodleQ was “pretty feisty” when it was apprehended. Rest in peace, Q.
