100-Pounders Startle Firefighters : Laguna Hills Gators Aren’t All Handbags

The call came into Orange County fire officials Tuesday afternoon: a strange-looking, dark liquid had been spotted in a Laguna Hills gutter, and a neighbor feared the stuff was toxic.

A hazardous materials team arrived and traced the liquid from the gutter up a driveway and to a pond, where they encountered a startling sight: Bonnie, a 5-foot, 100-pound alligator, sunning herself on a pleasant spring day.

It seems Bonnie and her brother, Clyde, have lived in Nick Amodio’s front-yard pond since they hatched from eggs 9 years ago.

That was not news to Amodio’s neighbors, who have grown accustomed to his hobby of collecting exotic animals, but it was to fire officials. Having established that the strange liquid was dirty water from Amodio’s yard, the officials called the Sheriff’s Department, which called Orange County animal control, and soon a good chunk of Savona was blocked by official vehicles reporting for reptile-removal duty.

“It made for an interesting day for the neighbors,” said Gene Jalbert, an Orange County animal control supervisor who was among those called to the scene.

Bonnie, alarmed by the commotion, scuttled under the bridge across her pond and refused to come out. Clyde remained contentedly at the bottom of the pond, where the dark outline of his 5-foot body was visible from the surface.

Meanwhile, Amodio was dealing with Jalbert, who cited him for not having a permit to keep alligators and for not erecting barricades to keep them from wandering into the neighborhood. Alligators must be licensed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state Fish and Game Department and local animal control officials.

Amodio was allowed to keep the reptiles while he sought a permit, Jalbert said.

Bonnie and Clyde are American alligators, one of two species. American alligators are mostly found along lakes, swamps and rivers from North Carolina to Texas, and reach an average length of about 9 feet. Alligators ordinarily eat small animals that live in or near water, but Amodio said he feeds Bonnie and Clyde raw chicken three times a week.

Kathy Leary, who lives around the corner, said she had heard about Amodio’s animal collection, but didn’t know it included alligators.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Leary said, “just as long as they don’t use our pool.”

Neighbors who know about Bonnie and Clyde said they have never been a problem, though one resident was relieved to hear that Amodio would be required to put up a barricade.

“When it’s warm out, they like to wander around,” said one neighbor, who said the alligators are visible from the sidewalk when they sunbathe beside the pond. “He should have a gate because children walk around there.”

Over the years, Amodio’s animal collection has included an electric eel in an aquarium, a peacock, chickens and a one-eyed cat, according to neighbors. He currently keeps exotic birds in an aviary in the lush backyard of his half-acre lot.

“I know he’s always had weird animals in his house,” said another neighbor. “When I was little we always used to go to his house to visit them. . . . The kids in the neighborhood loved it there.”