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Gator Aid Too Late for Beached Reptile

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

A strange assemblage of creatures has come ashore at Laguna Beach over the years--seals, sharks, sea lions, a 1,500-pound sea turtle. Even a goat.

But never an alligator.

At least not until Monday.

Officials say a dead alligator--about four feet long and weighing 20 to 30 pounds--was spotted floating about 100 yards offshore at about 2 p.m. by a man on a paddleboard.

The man hoisted the scaly reptile onto the board and paddled back to the beach at Pearl Street, where a stunned group of 35 to 40 people gathered around the creature, said Marine Safety Officer Scott Diederich.

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The alligator did not appear to have been sick or injured, Diederich said, and it had “very nice sharp teeth.”

Beach-goers were kept a safe distance from the creature, Diederich said, though the reptile was not moving.

“Not being very well abreast of alligators and their sleeping habits, nobody wanted to take a chance,” he said. “Its mouth was large enough . . . it could probably taken off an adult person’s fingers, no problem.”

The reptile was taken to the Laguna Beach Animal Shelter on Laguna Canyon Road where it was being kept for disposal.

Animal control officer Joy Lingenfelter described it as an American alligator, probably under 2 years old.

“This was one of the trendy exotic pets,” she said. Some people keep unusual creatures as “status” pets, she said, although it is illegal to do that with alligators. Potbellied pigs were all the rage a while back, she said.

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Lingenfelter said alligators have been dumped in a creek near the shelter and in the Back Bay in Newport Beach. Had that happened to the reptile in question, it could have washed out to the ocean, she said. The lifeguards theorized that it may have escaped from captivity on a boat.

“All of us pretty much say the same thing, ‘What a shame.’ It’s probably another exotic pet gone wrong,” she said.

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