Long Island Alligators: Are They Taking Over?

Long Island residents are concerned after several gators have been spotted and caught in random places, such as on golf courses and in supermarket parking lots.

On Monday, a 30-inch alligator was found on the Great Rock Golf Club in Riverhead; he was captured and taken to the Long Island Aquarium, where he will be cared for by experts.

Officials are concerned that people have been making pets out of the gators and then releasing them for some reason, which is dangerous, not to mention illegal.

“It’s a wild animal, it cannot be domesticated,” animal control-officer Jessica Eibs-Stankaitis said. “It’s an animal of opportunity when it needs to eat.”

On Tuesday, a gator which was described as 2-3 feet long was found in a Pathmark parking lot; on Wednesday, a 3-4 foot gator was found wandering around in the same lot. They will both be sent to an animal sanctuary in Florida.