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Barletta talks to local fire companies about Obamacare

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Our Opinion: Alligators here to stay? No, but Pennsylvania waterways will change with the climate

<p>SWEET VALLEY &#8212; There&#8217;s a reason why the alligator discovered in Harris Pond earlier this month couldn&#8217;t have been captured and handed over to a zoo where it could live a long, happy life.</p><p>It&#8217;s not that easy.</p><p>Clyde Peeling, owner of Clyde Peeling&#8217;s Reptiland in Allenwood, said his facility is already home to several alligators and can&#8217;t add another one to the mix. By doing so, Peeling said, a deadly outcome could result.</p><p>&#8220;If I put it in with the other alligators, fighting would break out and it could suffer a severe injury or be killed,&#8221; Peeling said. &#8220;We get calls from people wanting to donate alligators and we can&#8217;t accept them because we don&#8217;t want to crowd our animals and make more problems.&#8221;</p><p>Peeling said he understands why the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission chose to dispatch the alligator and remove it from the pond. The 3-foot alligator was spotted at Harris Pond earlier this month by anglers who notified the PFBC. Harris Pond, which is open to the public, is owned by the agency and located next to the commission&#8217;s region office.</p><p>Peeling, who has captured alligators, crocodiles and caimans in the wild and opened Reptiland in 1964, said if the PFBC tried to capture the reptile from Harris Pond it could take weeks, if it could be caught at all.</p><p>Capture attempts would involve cruising the lake by boat at night with a light to locate the alligator&#8217;s reflective eyes. Even then, Peeling said, the creature would likely submerge when it spotted the boat and reappear anywhere in the pond.</p><p>&#8220;People think it&#8217;s easy to catch one of these, and it&#8217;s not,&#8221; Peeling said. &#8220;A lot of people get emotional over these issues and I understand that, but there&#8217;s a limit as to what you can reasonably do. It would take so many man hours just to try to capture the alligator, and there&#8217;s no easy way to do it.</p><p>&#8220;From the Fish and Boat Commission perspective, the most sensible thing would be to dispatch it now and solve the problem.&#8221;</p><p>Even if the alligator was captured, Peeling said, finding a place to accept it would be even more difficult.</p><p>&#8220;Florida, Louisiana and the other southern states don&#8217;t want them taken down there and released in the wild. An animal that has been raised in captivity has lost its fear of humans and can be a nuisance animal in the wild,&#8221; he said.</p><p>If the alligator wasn&#8217;t removed from Harris Pond, Peeling said it would have succumbed this winter when temperatures dropped. As far as being a danger to the public, it probably wasn&#8217;t that much of a threat, according to Peeling. But if the alligator was used to being fed by humans, there could be a danger if a child or dog went for a swim in the pond.</p><p>When alligators hatch, they are just over 8 inches long and grow a foot per year. Peeling estimated the age of the Harris Pond alligator at 2 1/2 to 3 years old.</p><p>The biggest concern Peeling had over the issue was the fact that someone was irresponsible enough to either let the alligator escape or intentionally release it into the pond.</p><p>&#8220;People buy a small alligator on a lark, thinking it&#8217;s a neat thing to do. The novelty wears off and they turn it loose,&#8221; Peeling said. &#8220;This is not a native animal and I would strongly discourage people from purchasing one. Most don&#8217;t have adequate facilities to handle an alligator.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">An alligator found in Harris Pond in Sweet Valley earlier this month was dispatched by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_alligator2.jpg</photo0><caption0>An alligator found in Harris Pond in Sweet Valley earlier this month was dispatched by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Reptile expert Clyde Peeling understands why Fish and Boat Commission dispatched gator</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@timesleader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Finding new home wasn’t likely for Harris Pond gator