BOSTON (AP) \u2014 It wasn\u2019t a croc \u2014 there really was an alligator on the loose in Boston.<\/p>\n
And the story of the city\u2019s slithering saurian appears to have a happy ending. The small alligator, spotted along the Charles River in Boston multiple times this week, has been rescued and delivered to safety, wildlife officials in Massachusetts said Thursday.<\/p>\n
The roughly foot-long crocodilian startled a few people and became an instant social media star after confused onlookers took videos of it slipping out of sight. But the animal is not native to Massachusetts, and couldn\u2019t possibly survive the harsh New England winter, so the search for the wayward gator was on.<\/p>\n
A local wildlife educator captured the critter on Wednesday night, and it\u2019s now awaiting a permanent home, officials said.<\/p>\n
Harvard University graduate student Whitney Lieberman was among the residents who caught a glimpse of the exotic visitor. She notified wildlife authorities when she saw the creature while she was jogging to work.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I did a double-take. For a second, I had to check myself \u2014 alligators are not native to Boston waterways, right?\u201d Lieberman said. \u201cI texted my coworkers because I had a morning meeting: \u2018Hey guys, this is a good excuse to be late for work. There is an alligator right in front of me and I don\u2019t know what to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The animal was in jeopardy due to the chilly temperatures. It was 51 degrees Fahrenheit (11 Celsius) along the Charles on Thursday. Alligators prefer temperatures above 80 degrees (27 degrees Celsius). They are cold-blooded and can\u2019t regulate their own temperature, so they enter a dormant, energy-saving state called brumation<\/a> to survive colder temperatures.<\/p>\n Joe Kenney, who runs a wildlife education business called Joe\u2019s Craz-zy Critters, captured the alligator, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife said in a statement. It said the state has temporarily authorized Kenney to keep it for now while it evaluates where to find a long-term place for it.<\/p>\n Kenney, of Abington, Massachusetts, said the alligator, being young and just a foot (30 centimeters) long, is basically harmless to humans. He said he located it by walking in the area where it was last reported and was \u201ca little shocked\u201d when he found it.<\/p>\n He said fans of the reptile have reached out to him and some asked to name it \u201cCharles.\u201d Kenney said the animal was probably someone\u2019s impulse purchase, but not a good idea for a pet.<\/p>\n \u201cAn alligator isn\u2019t designed to live in a fish tank. Really, ideally, it should be living out in the swamp in the southern United States,\u201d Kenney said. \u201cAnd they can get pretty big. So even though this guy is still little, by the time he\u2019s somewhere around 10, 15 years old, he\u2019ll be an adult alligator.\u201d<\/p>\n Adult alligators can grow to more than 11 feet (3.4 meters) long and weigh more than 500 pounds (227 kilograms).<\/p>\n The wildlife department said the alligator\u2019s appearance is still under investigation, but added it was most likely a pet that escaped or was intentionally released.<\/p>\n \u201cMassWildlife is working in close collaboration with the Environmental Police to find a safe home for this alligator as an educational animal with a permitted facility. This incident serves as an important reminder that it is not legal to keep alligators or any crocodilian species as pets in Massachusetts,\u201d state herpetologist Mike Jones said in a statement.<\/p>\n