GOTCHA! Chicago River alligator in custody

The alligator is captured this morning. (Alex Garcia / Tribune)

August 24, 2010

The 3-foot alligator was floating with his eyes just above the murky waters of the Chicago River on a little before noon today when he was spotted underneath the Belmont Avenue bridge.

Bob the alligator wrangler said he paddled over as the alligator submerged. He took out a long pole with a net attached to one end and cornered the alligator between the curb and the net.

"It had no choice but to go in the net," said "Alligator Bob," who doesn't like to give out his last name.

He then scooped the creature out of the water and into his canoe and put it inside a sack as onlookers on the shore applauded.

Bob said the alligator will be kept for 60 to 90 days at an "undisclosed place, for the animal's safety." He will then contact organizations in Florida that are willing to take it.

"It was a quiet capture," he said to a couple who wondered how he did it.

"I was hoping to feed her to him," said the man, jokingly referring to his female companion.

"There is nothing to feed him with," said Bob, giving the woman a compliment.

Bob put the American alligator inside a plastic container and went back to the river to retrieve his traps.

Eric Wagner, 48, walked by hoping to see the creature with his binoculars before work, but he was a half-hour too late.

"I just missed it," Wagner said. "It would have been cool to see (the catch). But you know, I saw (the alligator) yesterday."

Bob, a volunteer with the Chicago Herpetological Society, returned with the last of his five traps. He wore the same khaki shorts and brown boots from the day before and a fresh shirt. Now, however, the shorts were damp and slightly dirty, and the boots were soaked.

"It's physically exhausting but enjoyable," Bob said, adding that he slept for only two hours the night before. He said he feels the same way as when someone saves a turtle or avoids running over a snake.

"It feels good. ... I am excited because of the fact that this is an animal that would have died otherwise," Bob said.

Officials at the Chicago Commission on Animal Care and Control confirmed the capture.

Also known as "Alligator Bob," Bob has volunteered with the Chicago Herpetological Society for about 20 years and has rescued more than 70 alligators from Illinois and Wisconsin waterways, he said.

That gives him a celebrity status he doesn't want, which is why he doesn't give out his last name. The last time he did, Bob said, he got calls from people all over the country asking him to take in their animals.

"I am just a volunteer," he said, noting that he took a day off work to go gator trapping.

It was the second time this month Bob had been called out to the same spot. On Aug. 6, he rescued a 2½-foot-long alligator he believes was once a pet, just like the one he caught Tuesday. This time, officials called him after Sararose Krenger and her family spotted a 3- to 5-foot gator basking in the sun along the riverbank as they took a boat ride on Sunday.

"My father said, 'There's an alligator,' and we said, 'Pretty funny,' but there really was an alligator there," Krenger said. "We thought it was pretty cool.

"He was chilling there, there were ducks floating by. ... He was eyeing the ducks and moved his tail a little bit and decided not to go for it. The ducks were swimming closer, so we didn't know if they were just messing with him."

Krenger said that as they sat watching the alligator about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, they called police, who responded along with animal control officers.

On Monday, Bob had set the five traps baited with chicken drumsticks. That didn't work.

Hoping to be there when he caught it, a small audience gathered Monday on the river's west side walkway. Every now and again, a passer-by would join the group and ask, "Has he caught him yet?"

It has become a sort of summer ritual for Bob as owners release their pet alligators to the river when they get too big, about 2 to 3 feet long.

"This one probably bit the owner," said Bob, who tries to protect the reptiles he finds. "Why kill the poor thing? It is a living animal."

As Bob spoke Monday afternoon, Jeff Nolan roamed the waters on his 15-foot boat trying to locate the alligator. He was fishing in Bridgeport on Monday morning when he got a call from a friend telling him about the alligator, so he decided to head upriver to try to catch the animal.

"I almost did," Nolan said, but it got away. "It would have given me bragging rights for the rest of the season."

Bob, annoyed at Nolan, asked him to leave the animal alone and mumbled that he was scaring the alligator The waters need to be calm for the alligator to come out and feed, Bob explained.

By 3:30 p.m. Monday, Bob had set his five traps along both sides of the river. If the traps were underwater, the alligator would drown, he explained, so he made sure they stayed afloat.

"Hopefully, it likes chicken," Bob said.

On the shore, a crowd was gathering again after it thinned during lunchtime. Three young entrepreneurs, ages 8, 10 and 11, were busy selling cold lemonade and Rice Krispies treats for 25 cents each.

Jacob Berry, 10, said his mother's friend had given them the idea. She had also taken photos of the gator, and they were debating how much to charge for the prints.

"$5?" asked Ryan Lin-Peistrup, 11.

"No, 50 cents," said Caleb Berry, 8, Jacob's younger brother.

"$1.50 -- that's fair," said Jacob, settling the issue.

Jacob left to get the photos as Ryan spotted his little sister walking toward him with their dad, who was trying to persuade Ryan to let his little sister help out.

"Fine," Ryan said. "But she won't get in the press."

Carlos Sadovi contributed to this report.

-- Alejandra Cancino

Trib Nation looks at why the alligator story is compelling HERE.

Click HERE for a WGN-TV report on this story.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/08/alligator-spotted-on-north-branch-of-chicago-river.html