Now alligators are leaving Floriduh

[Conjuay]

12. those bought as pets

are usually S.A. caimans, not alligators. The sale /possession of alligators was banned in the early 70’s (I believe) as they were becoming endangered. And a gator purchased in the sixties would be quite large, not four or five feet long.

As for one turning up in New Jersey, it would not survive the winter, and caimans are even more tropical than alligators. So someone caught the one pictured (in the article)in the south and kept it until it was to big for the aquarium it was in.

This happens, unfortunately, one 3 - 4 foot gator in our pond would approach people looking for food. Once it was caught, it was obvious someone had owned it for a while- it had a ‘piercing’; a guitar pick was attached to it using a snap swivel.

The point I am trying to make is that, yes, warming would account for gators in NC or even VA, but not NJ -just yet.