Key Points:
- While the state of Michigan does seem to permit the ownership of alligators, municipal rules apply. Alligators require sufficient space and a specific set of conditions to thrive.
- Alligators that have become accustomed to human contact can be especially dangerous — especially when in search of food.
- In the video below, after arriving at a Detroit home law enforcement find some very unexpected residents: an adult and three baby alligators.
The last thing you’d expect to see in your home in the middle of a Detroit winter is an entire family of alligators! Law enforcement got the surprise of a lifetime when they arrived at the home for a reason entirely separate from alligator removal, as seen in this news footage.
Check Out the Video Below!
A 36th District Court bailiff with a valid court order to remove the tenant appeared at a residence on the 9800 block of Yorkshire Boulevard at approximately 2:30 p.m. on December 16, as per FOX 2 Detroit.
Before police arrived, the male resident had left, according to the authorities. One adult and three baby alligators were found inside a tank when police and the court official went back to the east-side property, according to police.
According to state law, it appears to be lawful to own an alligator in Michigan; however, local municipal rules may also apply, as Michigan Live stated. In Detroit, keeping gators is prohibited.
Additionally risky, the animals require a specific amount of room and habitat to survive, according to WJBK. Detroit police were the first authorities on the location of the eviction, but when the resident became irate, they requested assistance. He escaped the police by running and driving away.
The creatures are in the custody of Detroit Animal Care and Control, who have the option of selling, transferring or euthanizing them; nonetheless, the gators will probably be given to an authorized animal keeper.
Alligator Invaders
Numerous factors can cause alligators to appear in residential neighborhoods. You may have discovered an alligator on the golf course or, scarier, in your backyard due to environmental variables like the construction of a condo complex close to a gator’s nesting location or even a recent hurricane or flood.
Even more concerning, factors like individuals maintaining or keeping alligators as pets and then dumping them due to the animal’s growing size or expense also add to the annoyance problem.
Since they have become acclimated to human contact, abandoned gators are likely to be considerably more dangerous to individuals and pets than their natural relatives. When an orphaned alligator wants food and decides to head back to its most accustomed food source, its absence of a natural fear of humans and human dwellings might be disastrous.
They will consume everything, up to and including other alligators, as well as ducks, small mammals, and yes, even dogs and cats, depending on what is readily available. The story of law enforcement finding a family of gators inside someone’s home would be something you’d expect to happen in Florida.
Because it happened in Michigan, professionals were even more baffled and had a harder time getting the animals out of the home. Thankfully, neither humans nor the alligators were harmed during this unique experience!
The photo featured at the top of this post is © meunierd/Shutterstock.com
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