Monday, September 19, 2005

Reggie The Alligator Still Living in Machado Lake

Rumors to the contrary Reggie the Alligator is still free in Machado Lake which is located in Harbor City of Los Angeles County.
The picture shown above is taken from Reggie's website which you can go to at http://savereggie.blogspot.com/. The most recent alligator hunter to be defeated by Reggie was a guy named T-Bone who is a New Orleans hurricane survivor. T-Bone didn't have the right credentials; therefore the officials at the Lake thanked T-Bone for his efforts and sent him back to his temporary home in Hollywood, Ca. I read an article in the Daily Breeze hinting that Janice Hahn the LA Councilperson representing Harbor City and other cities nearby has recommended that Machado Lake be drained in order to not only capture Reggie but other gators that may be there. Higher up officials in the County and State have not yet figured out if this is feasible or if they want to follow up on Hahn's suggestion to flush out the Lake but I bet they are considering it strongly. Personally, it would be a shame to do it as the other creatures at the Lake would be negatively affected, although being eaten by alligators is also not the best thing for them either.

It is a real dilemma. My preference would be to let Reggie alone. They already captured a smaller alligator, some consider to be a brother of Reggie. I read an e-mail from Reggie's website saying one of Reggie's readers put an alligator in another wildlife Lake. The alligator was a pet that seemed to be too much for this reader. It seems this practice of releasing pet alligators into local lakes is not a totally unusual happening. It is a shame these people use, buy, capture, wild animals and reptiles in the first place. I saw a little boy on my street with a baby rabbit in his pocket the other day. Even that concerned me. What happens down the road when the animal becomes too much of a challenge for a family? The fate of all these disposable creatures usually does not have a happy ending. I am still a Reggie watcher and fan and hope the best for him.
I wonder what would happen if he was just left alone. Sometimes a remedy is worse than the cure.

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