Alligator Sighting In Connecticut Prompts Warning

EAST LYME, CT—The sighting of what is likely a juvenile alligator in Powers Lake in East Lyme has prompted local and state officials to investigate and issue a warning to residents.

East Lyme Public Safety officials took to Facebook Tuesday morning alerting residents that an alligator, which officials said is 1-foot in length meaning a young 'gator, was seen in the lake near Nehantic State Park. The post said the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is investigating.

East Lyme Police Chief Michael Finkelstein told Patch that the report came from one individual reporting what they believed was an alligator.

Authorities said that people who might spot the predatory semi-aquatic crocodilian contact the DEEP. DEEP officials responded to the area and investigated and say they can't confirm it was an alligator, NBC CT reports.

The American alligator is a cousin of the crocodile and has lived on the Earth for around 38 million years. Alligators are found in the Southeastern U.S. primarily in Florida and Louisiana and also in the southern sections of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and in coastal portions of the Carolina's.

It's not unusual for juvenile or young alligators to be found in other states, but they did not get their on their own. Juvenile 'gators have been relocated, illegally, from Southern states and when they outgrow a tank, are dumped in lakes, rivers, streams and sewers. There's no shortage of reason why alligators do not make good pets, namely because they're wild and enigmatic creatures.

American alligators can grow to 14 feet and weight up to 1,500 pounds, and bigger. An alligator can likely not survive a Northeast winter, however. Or any harsh winter, for that matter.

In Chicago's Humbolt Park, an alligator was sighted, and then caught. In that case, the 'gator was more than 4 feet long.

A 4-foot alligator was safely rescued after it was discovered swimming in Lake Michigan in 2018.

In 2014, an alligator was discovered in a Pennsylvania river.