Angry Gator Wranglers Quit Reptile Hunt

[SHADCHA]

Angry Florida Gator Wranglers Quit Search for Los Angeles Reptile After Being Ridiculed

Gator wranglers from Florida have abruptly quit their search for the city's elusive 7-foot alligator, livid that they were publicly ridiculed by a brash Hurricane Katrina evacuee that a councilwoman brought in to help nab the reptile.

Thomas "T-Bone" Quinn described as "retarded" the tactics employed by the wranglers from Orlando-based Gatorland. He made his comments on Saturday after being escorted by Councilwoman Janice Hahn to Ken Molloy Harbor Regional Park in South Los Angeles, where the gator dubbed Reggie has inhabited a lake for at least two months.

"I am not going to allow Gatorland to be referred to as 'retarded,' " Gatorland team leader Ted Williams said Monday. "I will not allow some swamp rat to walk into a situation and make comments about Gatorland and this team. We conducted ourselves in a professional manner."

Williams also accused Hahn of playing him "like a little puppet" for political purposes.

Hahn said Monday that she was surprised by Williams' reaction. Quinn, a 47-year-old Gulf Coast pipe fitter, apologized for his remarks and all of the men seemed to be getting along by Saturday night, she said.

"I thought it wouldn't hurt to have somebody else's advice," said Hahn, who praised Gatorland's efforts. "The only agenda I have is catching Reggie and I thought this was an opportunity to give this evacuee something to do."

The Gatorland team has spent the past week working quietly after dark, setting out bait, laying in wait in the swampy vegetation and cruising the 53-acre Machado Lake in canoes.

Quinn has not yet joined the hunt.

City officials said they needed to do a background check and decide whether he could work without liability insurance. They also were worried by Quinn's graphic descriptions of how he usually stabs alligators in the brain to kill them.

Hahn said he's filled out paperwork to become a city volunteer, which will take care of insurance questions. Background checks appear to have come back clean, she said.

Quinn said he would abide by city rules to keep Reggie alive.

Wranglers from Florida and Colorado have tried in vain for five weeks to catch Reggie, who allegedly was dumped in the 53-acre Machado Lake by his former owner when he got too big to keep as a pet.

Some people, including Gatorland's Williams, are suggesting that Reggie should be left alone.

Hahn said she may consider that option as long as it's legal.

"I think we need to seriously consider the fact that he may not be caught," she said.


Information from: Daily Breeze, http://www.dailybreeze.com

[BTOWNMAMI239]

[LaChavela]

I wonder if they ever got him out
Good read lol

[BTOWNMAMI239]

^^ Highly doubt it.

I hate reading about people that go out an buy "exotic" animals only to realize later they can't handle 'em and end up doing shit like this.