5-Foot Alligators Spotted in Michigan Campus Believed to be Pets Dumped by Owners in a Lake

There are alligators in Michigan, but they are not as common as in Florida. Most of them are small and live in aquariums as pets. However, those living in ponds and creeks are bigger.

According to a report from HuffPost, two alligators made the headlines last weekend after they were spotted in Whitehouse Nature Center operated by Albion College. Due to the incident, the center was forced to be closed "out of an abundance of caution." Meanwhile, authorities have continued to locate the two reptiles.

(Photo : Pexels/Petr Ganaj)
4- to 5-Foot Alligators Spotted in Michigan Campus Believed to be Dumped Pets

Poor Alligators Could Die If Not Caught Immediately

The Kalamazoo River cuts through the 140 acres of the Whitehouse Nature Center, where the two separate alligator sightings were reported. The alligators were estimated to be four to five feet in length. The college advises people to stay away from the nature center for a while and be aware of the surrounding bodies of water.

Michigan's Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary director Lina Kelly told local news outlet WILX-TV that alligators are not subject to the harsh weather conditions in Michigan. However, they will likely die if they remain at large by October. She added that the alligator population in Michigan is not much, even though it is legal to own an alligator as a pet.

She reminded alligator pet owners that there are places where they can take their alligators rather than just dumping them off into a local lake or pond and causing problems to the community.

Some residents in Michigan suspect that given the size of the alligators, they are likely pet reptiles that got big and were dumped into the lake. On the other hand, others also jokingly offered less plausible explanations in the comment section of the college's Facebook post, such as the alligators coming from the Jumanji board.

The college's warning on its Facebook page has garnered more than 130 comments and over 700 shares. Meanwhile, the sheriff's office also joked that the alligators would not be facing charges despite trying to escape from the scene.

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Why Alligators Should Not Be Kept as Pets

Alligators are terrible pets as it is like taking care of a dinosaur, according to National Geographic. Recently, there has been a rise in abandoned reptiles around the US, raising concerns among experts.

There is no official tally on the number of pet alligators nationwide, but some states have estimates. For example, Michigan likely has 5,000, while there are at least 50 in Phoenix, Arizona, and as many as 52 in Chicago are surrendered each year to authorities.

Wildlife officials across the country have noticed pet alligators being abandoned in parks, creeks, and other public places recently. Rare sightings in some areas, including the six pet alligators that went on the loose in Detroit, led to the death of one of them.

Moreover, experts are concerned about alligator health as some are kept illegally. As a result, they developed serious health problems after going unchecked for years.

In New Mexico, experts rescued one alligator with a very low level of calcium. Another was so malnourished that it broke its back while trying to escape the rescuers.

Many pet alligators develop poor health because of their low-nutrient diet in captivity, such as eating hamburger meat or deboned chicken. Unnatural surfaces also harm them and could disfigure their skeleton. Given these conditions, it is no wonder owners just abandon them. Experts said that the best solution for this is to never own an alligator or animals like them.