Gator Watch: Search For Lagoon Alligator Enters 3rd Day

CHICAGO — The search for an alligator found in the Humboldt Park Lagoon stretched into its third day on Thursday, and efforts to trap it continue. Chicago police are advising people to stay away from the water.

Witnesses had earlier reported spotting what appeared to be a four- to five-foot-long alligator or crocodile in the water, Block Club Chicago reported. The lagoon connects to the public Humboldt Park Beach, where swimming is allowed.

Authorities independently confirmed the presence of the animal in the lagoon, police spokesman Anthony Gugliemi said in a tweet.

"The reptile will be humanely trapped tonight and relocated to a zoo for a veterinary evaluation," he said Tuesday. But as of Thursday morning, the gator — who now has his or her own social medi accounts — was still evading authorities.

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Earlier in the week, witness Charlie Rizzo told Block Club he was walking in the park when another man pointed the animal out to him.

"I looked at it and you could clearly see it. You could see his eyes raised above the water, his snout and his long tail pushing him along," said Rizzo, who added he was worried about kids encountering the animal.

Reports of the gator drew curiosity seekers as well as volunteer animal expert "Alligator Bob," who took a canoe out onto the lagoon to search for the animal on Monday.

Crowds came out to watch the search for the alligator and someone even created a Facebook event with the ill-advised title "Sneak into the Humboldt Park Lagoon and pet the alligator."

Someone also set up a Twitter account on the alligator's behalf, sharing photos of the gator with captions like, "Feeling cute, might delete later" and vowing to evade capture.

The animal — likely dumped there by someone recently — wouldn't be the first alligator to be found in an Illinois body of water.

In June 2008, a five-foot alligator was found in the Chicago River. A month later, a slightly smaller gator was found and trapped in Plainfield's Lake Renwick. That gator, lured into a humane trap with some store-bought chicken, was believed to be someone's illegally acquired pet and didn't appear afraid to approach humans.

In 2010, another alligator was found in the Chicago River, this time in the north branch.

More recently last October, a kayaker found a four-foot-long gator swimming in Lake Michigan's Waukegan Harbor. The gator was swimming through the chilly water with its mouth bound shut with rubber bands. Initially met with skepticism, the kayaker took a video for proof and called 911.

After the gator was trapped, officials with the Illinois and Wisconsin departments of natural resources conducted an investigation attempting to find out who owned the gator.

Alligators and crocodiles are illegal to own without a federal permit under the 1969 Dangerous Animals Act, which prohibits the ownership of animals including the "lion, tiger, leopard, ocelot, jaguar, cheetah, margay, mountain lion, lynx, bobcat, jaguarundi, bear, hyena, wolf or coyote, or any poisonous or life‑threatening reptile."

Swimming is only permitted at the Humboldt Park Beach when a lifeguard is on duty from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.