Alligator Returns Home After Month of Exile

Residents of a Carson neighborhood cheered Thursday as Papa the Alligator ended a month of exile and returned to the back yard where he has served as the neighborhood mascot for 24 years.

The Louisiana gator was seized March 2 by county animal control officers after a tipster complained to Carson officials that the 6-foot reptile was being kept behind a house without a city permit.

Neighbors came to the gator’s aid, protesting that he was a beloved pet that had never menaced anyone. When they pointed out that the animal had lived in Carson with homeowner Nelvolia Collins longer than the city had been in existence, the City Council passed an emergency ordinance authorizing his return.

Collins bundled the alligator in a blanket, wrapped his jaws in duct tape and drove him home after authorities ordered his release Thursday afternoon from the Wildlife Waystation east of Lake View Terrace.