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Alligators in Chicago? Here's How Experts Rescue Exotic Animals in the City

By Kelly Bauer | November 23, 2015 6:31am | Updated on December 4, 2015 11:04am
 When people abandon alligators in Chicago, groups like Friends of Scales and the Chicago Herpetological Society are called in to rescue them.
When people abandon alligators in Chicago, groups like Friends of Scales and the Chicago Herpetological Society are called in to rescue them.
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THE LOOP — You’ve heard of alligators in New York’s sewers, but what about on Chicago’s streets?

The Windy City has been home to all kinds of non-indigenous reptiles and amphibians — including alligators and ball pythons — but it’s not supposed to be, experts said. A thin, injured alligator was found in the middle of a street on the South Side in October, ball pythons have been found on golf courses and venomous snakes get dropped off in trash cans.

The alligator “was probably just thrown from a car or just thrown out,” said John Archer, president of the Chicago Herpetological Society. The society is often called in to help find homes for exotic animals when they are abandoned or surrendered. “We find animals like that, venomous reptiles thrown away in trash cans, in the back seat of cars.”

Abandonment is “probably a death sentence for the animal,” Archer said. That’s frustrating for people like Erica Mede, the president of Friends of Scales. The Evanston-based group helps find homes for amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates that are voluntarily surrendered or abandoned, among other services.

Mede said alligators like the one found on the South Side are typically kept in bath tubs or fish tanks and are 2½ to 3 feet long when they’re abandoned.

Most people who surrender their pets to Friends of Scales do so because they can’t take care of them anymore, can’t afford the pet’s health costs or didn’t think the animal would live as long as it has, Mede said. Far fewer people just abandon their pets, Mede said, but it does happen. A recent example: Friends of Scales helped rescue Minerva, a Savannah monitor who was abandoned and living by a pond. She was “very, very, very, very skinny,” Mede said.

“There’s a whole lot of turtles in the Chicago River that shouldn’t be there,” Mede said.

MEDICAL UPDATE: Minerva McGonagall the Savannah Monitor that came in to the rescue after being left outside at a lake...

Posted by Friends of Scales Reptile Rescue on Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Instead of abandoning them, pet owners should try to rehome their, er, non-traditional friends (but give the alligators to experts — they’re illegal to own in Illinois). There are “very few quick turnarounds,” Mede said, but it’s better for the pet and the environment than abandoning non-indigenous animals. They can contact experts like Friends of Scales, the Herpetological Society or even the Chicago Exotics Animal Hospital, she said.

Chicago Animal Care and Control accepts all animals surrendered to it, including alligators, turtles and snakes, said Deputy Director Ivan Capifali. It gets help finding new homes for those animals from groups like the Herpetological Society and Friends of Scales. Animal Control can be reached by calling 312-747-1406.

But, Animal Care and Control “does not have the capability to handle these exotic animals,” Capifali said.

Mede said Friends of Scales rescues and receives 300-400 animals per year, many of them from the suburbs. The all-volunteer group is trying to build a standalone facility so it can better help animals. It accepts donations online, with half of the donated money going to vet care and the other half going to savings for the facility.

This adorable bundle of cute is Lieutenant Thunder Smoke, the "brother" of Captain Lightening Fire! He is being treated...

Posted by Friends of Scales Reptile Rescue on Thursday, November 5, 2015

Archer said Herpetological Society members get about a dozen animals per month from Animal Care and Control, not all of them exotic, and members also take in animals that don’t come from Animal Control. They refuse to take animals from their owners until they have a new home set up for them, Archer said. Crocodilians are sent out of state to special facilities: They’re never set loose “because that’s a really bad idea, plus it’s illegal,” he added.

“Fortunately, that’s dropped off in the last few years. We used to get a lot more than we do now,” Archer said. “We like to think it’s because we’re educating people. … It could be because they’re enforcing the laws a little bit more, but I’m not sure that’s the case.”

If you want to learn more about the animals the Herpetological Society helps, you can attend its annual show April 9-10 at Northeastern Illinois University. It’s “purely educational,” Archer said, and there will be hundreds of animals.

You can also follow Friends of Scales on Facebook to learn about its adoption events.

What to think about before getting an “exotic pet:”

• Is it legal to keep the animal as a pet? Do you need a permit?

• How much will the pet’s food, health care, etc. cost? Are you able to afford the costs?

• Can you provide adequate housing for the pet as it grows? It’s a myth that animals don’t grow larger than their habitat, Mede said.

• How long will the pet live? If you’re adopting, say, a turtle, are you prepared to care for it for more than 50 years?

• If you need to rehome the pet at some point, do you understand that there are “very few quick turnarounds” and it could be a while before your pet gets a new home?

• Have you done research and reached out to experts and area groups to learn about how to care for your pet?

• Will the animal fulfill what you want in a pet? Snakes and turtles provide very different forms of companionship than cats and dogs do.

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