The alligator that eluded authorities for a week in the Humboldt Park Lagoon, exhausted after its time in the spotlight, was caught overnight and made an appearance at a news conference Tuesday morning near the lagoon.
The male, 5-foot-3 alligator, weighing about 30 or 40 pounds, was captured around 1:30 a.m. at the northwest side of the lagoon, officials said. Alligator trapper Frank Robb, who was brought in over the weekend from Florida to replace a volunteer trapper, was walking along the shoreline when he heard the alligator and saw it in lily pads, its eyes shining.
When Robb spotted the alligator, the animal dipped down in the water. Robb was able to catch it with one cast of hooks attached to a fishing rod.
He then reeled in the alligator, grabbed him and tied him up, he said during the Tuesday morning news conference.
“The second I put my hands on him, the hook fell out,” Robb said. The animal “put up a little fight” but was unharmed, he added, joking that when he’s asked how he catches alligators, he says, “just barely.”
Robb said that he had little sleep overnight, and the alligator “was exhausted, too, I’m sure.”
At the news conference, the alligator was in a dark-colored box with a yellow lid until Robb took it out and showed it off. The animal jerked its body when it was first removed from the container. There was black tape wrapped around its jaws. The animal didn’t make any noises and remained calm as he rested on the arm of his captor.
Kelley Gandurski, director of Chicago Animal Care and Control, said the alligator was in good health.
“Wherever he came from or however he got here, he’s a very healthy animal,” Robb said.
During the news conference, a large group of residents joined the flock of media, hoping to see the creature.
Grant Farmer, of the Humboldt Park neighborhood, stood nearby, extending his arms over the television cameras to snap a picture of the alligator with his smartphone.
“I would walk around previously this week, hoping to get a glimpse of him, but I wasn’t able to see him,” he said.
The capture was the culmination of a weeklong quest to capture the exotic animal, presumed to be a pet that someone had abandoned in the historic West Side lagoon. Officials started searching for it midday July 9 after people began sharing photos of it on social media and someone called the city about the animal. As the search continued, businesses tried to capitalize on the phenomenon and locals frequently visited the park to watch and celebrate the gator.
“The Humboldt Park alligator has captured the imaginations of the entire city of Chicago and beyond and has united residents who have been following this story for the last week,” Animal Care and Control said in a release earlier Tuesday.
Video: Officials share details of alligator capture
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Video: Alligator makes public debut
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Robb said that even before he got the call to come to Chicago, he had been among those following the news about the alligator.
“Everybody’s got different blessings, this is mine,” Robb said. “This is what I’ve spent every day of my life doing for the last 24 years.”
Officials said the alligator will remain with Animal Care and Control until they determine where he will go next.
In the wake of the already famous capture, Robb was scheduled to throw out the first pitch at Tuesday night’s Cubs game. And Robb also was to turn on Buckingham Fountain on Wednesday morning, after which he will take questions from the media, a spokeswoman for animal control said.
On Sunday, animal control officials closed the eastern half of the park after hiring Robb, who owns Crocodilian Specialist Services in Florida, as the search entered its second week. The closures were done on Robb’s advice to make the area around the lagoon quiet and free from distractions, according to animal control.
With the capture, joggers and dog walkers returned Tuesday morning to Humboldt Park despite a light rain.
Laura Shields, who was walking her 8-year-old Australian shepherd mix, said she was disappointed when she realized the park was closed Monday. “It was definitely a bummer,” she said. “I come to the park two or three times day.”
