Wildlife Invasion

Small Town has a river running through it, the Tuscarawas River named after a tribe that lived here until the Europeans arrived. It claims a life now and then when people forget how powerful its undercurrents are, and sometimes it floods low-lying land. Well, now it's home to an alligator or possibly two. It's my guess some moron bought a baby alligator thinking it was cute, but when it got bigger and less cute, they released it in the river. And now authorities are trying to catch it before it gets bigger and takes somebody's leg.

While the search goes on, I suspect there will be lots of sightings and people will have fun with this story. Small Town likes its elusive wildlife.

We once had a couger running loose, and just when the story would die down, somebody would call in to say they spotted it in their backyard or out the woods. We've had black bear sightings, some caught on camera and some just reported. And we've got Big Foot, too, with a society devoted to finding one and proving to the rest of the world that the members of the group really aren't fools.

I hope our next wildlife sighting will be an elephant escaped from the circus, or maybe a giraffe or something like that three-foot worm that's harassing farmers in Idaho. Then we'd all have some real stories to tell.

The photo is borrowed from Small Town Newspaper and taken by Jim Cummings.

UPDATE: the little baby gator was caught, so no fun sightings in store for Small Town.