Search continues for missing alligator in New Jersey
MIDDLESEX COUNTY, N.J. - New Jersey officials are conducting a massive search for an alligator on the loose in Middlesex County.
Becoming a local attraction, officials closed the park, turning visitors away.
The gator is believed to be about three to four feet long.
Since then, the gator was spotted again and again here in Lake Creighton. On Tuesday, search boats on the water spent 10 hours searching for it. Workers in waders were in the water, and drones flew overhead - but there was no sign of their suspect.
Officers fired a shot to neutralize the alligator last Wednesday, but it slipped away.
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"When I see little kids and their little pets right there on the banks, it got too crazy." Middlesex Borough Mayor John L Madden said, "when the alligator is on dry land, it can go 35 miles per hour. That’s pretty damn fast. 20 miles an hour or so in the water, it’s a muscle with a mouth that’s what they are," Middlesex County Mayor John Madden said.
Authorities believe the alligator was somebody’s pet and discarded at the lake, possibly because then lake is teeming with life ranging from turtles to large carp.
Because the lake connects to the Raritan River, police say it is possible that the alligator escapes the area without being detected despite their preference to catch and relocate it.
If the alligator still isn’t spotted after the next few days, the town will consider reopening the area to the public.