A while back, I wrote about Reggie the Alligator, an abandoned pet who had made a small lake in Harbor City his home and grown to a length of over six feet and recently re-appeared after apparently disappearing for eighteen months. Angelenos kind of liked Reggie but he was obviously a threat to local fauna. So animal control officials were having a meeting hear Reggie’s lake to discuss what to do about him, when someone comes busting in to the meeting and says that Reggie was sunning himself out of the water, in a fenced area. The officials closed the fence, hooked him, and duct-taped his snout shut. He’s in temporary quarters at the Zoo now, after a ride uptown escorted by police and followed live with helicopters by local TV stations. Only in Los Angeles would we turn an escaped alligator into a local celebrity.
