6670

May. 20th, 2004 06:58 am
scottobear: (Default)
[personal profile] scottobear
Looks like the bro is moving out of the mother's place... sound idea, I think. I know he can afford an efficiency now, and they're just butting heads at this point.

Me, I'd have lobbed his ass back to jail after earlier this week... but I'm glad they're still working with him. He's got some good appointments for this morning.

I plan on visiting him later this week and playing some heroclix, or goofing off in some other way.

I've calmed down a lot over the last couple of days. Maintaining rage is too much work...it tires me out.

Overly friendly gator banished

A fearless young alligator living comfortably among humans in a public park was hauled away and will live in the Everglades.

He was abandoned as a babe and is blind in one eye, but 5-year-old Wally has his fans.

People like Tony Trusso dropped by Perrine Wayside Park to visit him daily -- even toss a bagel or two his way.

''He likes bagels,'' Trusso, who lives by the Palmetto Bay park, said.

But as time went on, Wally grew just as alligators tend to do. At age 5, he was a typical four feet and 20 pounds. A friendly gator -- but one neighbors feared might be dangerous one day.

So Tuesday, a state-hired trapper caught Wally and hauled him away.

''We didn't want him to become an attraction,'' said Mayor Eugene Flinn.

Flinn said he thinks Wally was once someone's pet but was abandoned a year ago at the park, which is snuggled between the shops and car dealerships that dot U.S. 1.

The blindness in his right eye was probably caused by some unkind foe, trying to pelt him with rocks, or even a BB gun bullet, said Pesky Critters trapper Todd Hardwick.

This is Pesky Critters' busy season. With breeding and nesting season coming between April and July, Hardwick can expect to get 50 to 70 calls about gators a week.

But Wally's presence in a park put him at the top of the removal list.

When Hardwick went to catch Wally on Tuesday, the alligator was hanging out on the edge of the park's pond. He didn't try to scramble when humans approached.

So Hardwick took out a fishing rod and used a hook to grab into the gator's rough hide.

Flinn took the rod, and Hardwick lassoed Wally and pulled him out of the pond. The pair then taped his snout shut and tied his feet together.

Palmetto Bay's upper command -- the village manager, public works director and top police officer -- all looked on.

The operation took no more than 10 minutes and was caught on tape for a show called Miami Animal Police to be shown on Animal Planet.

As Wally lay on the ground, he appeared calm. His tail swooshed back and forth.

''That animal should not be behaving that way,'' Hardwick said, adding that the reptile's comfort level around people was abnormal, making him dangerous.

''His friendliness puts him in a position where kids may try to catch him and he will bite,'' Hardwick said.

Wally got that way in part by being a pet and also by people -- illegally -- feeding him at the park.

Wally's trapping on Tuesday probably saved his life. Captured alligators that measure longer than four feet in length are killed, said Colleen Ecklof, assistant alligator coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Wally came in just under the limit.

So the alligator will have a new home, 20 miles west of Krome Avenue off the Tamiami Trail, in the Everglades.Site Meter

Is Gmail's, one gig email too hard to get? Register for Spymac.

Spymac's free membership includes:
1 GB e-mail account, 350 MB combined storage, personal blog, forum, gallery, and more.

100 megabytes of free web space (complete with FTP and WebDAV access)
Free e-mail account with 1000 megabytes of storage (includes both POP3 and Web access)
250 megabytes of free storage in Spymac's Gallery

Ephemerist Images

Odd Todd's Latest - Career Day I hope the 2005 gig treats him well.

Date: 2004-05-20 12:16 pm (UTC)
rejectomorph: (hindenburg)
From: [personal profile] rejectomorph
Spymac is a rather ominous name.

Date: 2004-05-20 12:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scottobear.livejournal.com
yes, yes it is.

Date: 2004-05-20 05:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickenden.livejournal.com
the reason I want that google mail is because of the search capabilities on one's in box.

I wish they would open it to the general public soon.

d.

Date: 2004-05-20 05:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scottobear.livejournal.com
I'll send you the next invite I get. (I've already given my other two away, but I imagine more are forthcoming.)

Date: 2004-05-20 05:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickenden.livejournal.com
wow, thanks. How do they determine who get's the invites?

d.

Date: 2004-05-20 05:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scottobear.livejournal.com
Quite welcome...

I'm not sure, overall. I got mine because I have a registered blogger account, but some others get it for other reasons.

Date: 2004-05-20 05:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickenden.livejournal.com
ah.. duh... I realized that I have an active blogger account, so I went out there (wow, new interface) and low and behold, I am now:
wickenden @ gmail.com.

Thanks for the pointer scotto.

d.

Date: 2004-05-20 05:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scottobear.livejournal.com
right on! good for you!

Date: 2004-05-21 12:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wickenden.livejournal.com
hey, not to bug you too much today, but... I tried having my lj comments go to my gmail, but the responder emails don't seem to work. Have you tried that?

Too bad, because, I want to have gmail for all my mail.

d.

Date: 2004-05-21 12:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scottobear.livejournal.com
I haven't tried it... my LJ responses land in a yahoo box.

Date: 2004-05-21 04:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] juliabee.livejournal.com
You got a Gmail account?! :::sigh::: I filled out their notification for one, but still haven't heard anything. Don't understand why it's just not open to all by now. I was ->this<- close to bidding for one on Ebay a few weeks. Going for $50 a pop, but I figured that was going overboard.

"Wally was once someone's pet but was abandoned a year ago at the park"

So someone didn't use their brain and research enough to know he would become too big to handle size-wise, space-wise or food-wise as an adult gator. They scare me, but he's not just some cool trophy that you can throw out when you're tired of him. I mean he's blind because of foe or because someone hurt him??..that makes me angry.



gmail/gator

Date: 2004-05-21 11:02 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scottobear.livejournal.com
I gave my gmail invites away, already, but I guided another lj-buddy to getting one with his blogger account.

Would you mind if I asked him to extend an invite to you?

People just don't think enough, it seems. I feel bad for poor wally-gator, but I'm glad he was recovered before he had to be put out of commission.

Profile

scottobear: (Default)
scott von berg

April 2017

S M T W T F S
       1
2 345678
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 1718 19 20 21 22
23 2425 26 2728 29
30      

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jan. 23rd, 2026 10:32 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios