A surprising encounter took place on Magnolia Lake last week when a fisherman inadvertently hooked an alligator. Ricky Sanchez, from North Philadelphia, was out kayaking on August 6 when he felt a tug on his line. “I hooked onto something and I brought it closer and I was like, ‘Oh no, that’s a gator. That’s definitely a gator. That cannot be here,’” Sanchez recounted. Despite the alligator’s thrashing, it managed to sever the fishing line, but Sanchez was quick to record the event on his cellphone, stating, “If I never recorded it, nobody’d believe this.”
The Bristol Township Police swiftly responded to the incident, cautioning locals about the presence of the gator through a Facebook post. They included two videos captured by Sanchez in their update. Notably, Sanchez was determined to return the following day, armed with hot dogs for bait and fishing line “FOUR TIMES as strong” as what he had used before.
As the story gained traction, it caught the attention of Kyle Asplundh, a Florida alligator wrangler visiting from Jupiter. With experience in handling such reptiles, Asplundh waited until nightfall to address the situation. “At night, their eyeshine is very apparent when you shine a spotlight on them,” he explained. This strategy paid off, allowing him to get close enough to secure the alligator, which he later handed over to park rangers.
Asplundh noted the alligator likely was once kept as a pet before being released into the lake. “This animal is definitely not a pet. I have hundreds of these animals, and I would never consider any of them my pets,” he emphasized. He took the alligator with him to Florida, where it would have the chance to thrive in a more suitable environment.
This incident sheds light on the complexities of wildlife management and the consequences of keeping alligators as pets. With winter approaching, the alligator’s survival in Pennsylvania would have been questionable. Ultimately, Sanchez’s surprising catch led to a swift response and provided an opportunity for wildlife experts to step in before a situation could escalate further.
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