Photo: Joe Kenney/Instagram
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A baby gator first spotted Tuesday morning in the Charles River has been rescued.
Both locals and viewers online were quick to spread videos of the small reptile floating in the water of the Charles. Word quickly reached a local animal educator in Abington, Joseph Kenney of Joe's Crazzy Critters, who took to the river to search for the animal.
Kenney made a post on his Instagram holding the alligator. He said he learned the reptile's last known location after being contacted by a local news station.
He then went out searching, figuring the cold temperatures or animal control might have gotten the gator first. But about 15 minutes into the search, Kenney said he had some luck.
“I walked down and around the pond, using a flashlight. I actually saw the baby alligator sitting there in the mud, by the bottom of the pond, and was able to just scoop it up,” said Kenney. “It was fortunately in a smaller, kind of like, lagoon-type pond, as opposed to in the actual river.”
Kenney has said the gator will stay with him for the time being while it’s small, and once it grows, he will find a sanctuary suited for larger animals.
While some believe the gator was a pet abandoned by a previous owner, alligators are illegal to own as pets in Massachusetts. Kenney added some advice for anyone harboring illegal pets in the Bay State.
“It is important to make sure that if you have an illegal animal or you have an exotic pet, that you don’t put it out in the wild. It won’t survive, and it’s cruel,” said Kenney.
“If you do have something that is a living animal or have one that’s not necessarily legal or supposed to be owned in the state, I still strongly encourage people to reach out to MSPCA, the Animal Rescue Leagues, Environmental Police, and your local Animal Control.”
WBZ NewsRadio’s Brooke McCarthy (@BrookeWBZ) has more.