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A haven for the scaly and the unwanted

Posted on Fri, Aug. 25, 2006
A haven for the scaly and the unwanted
Your gator's gone wild? Here's a place for it to go.
By Bonnie L. Cook
Inquirer Staff Writer

Just off a rural road in Lancaster County, 40 formerly abandoned
reptiles live in glass cages with a water pan and warming lamp.

There's Harley, a red-tailed boa constrictor as big around as a
melon, depending on what she's eaten that week. There's Victor, a
lime-green iguana who thumps his spiny tail, trying to escape his
cage in Jesse Rothacker's garage.

And there are the alligators - five of them.

Rothacker, 24, has turned into the region's de facto savior of
unwanted alligators, once small, cute pets that have - quite
predictably - grown into big, dangerous beasts.

The genial biology major and aspiring teacher says that demand for
cage space at Forgotten Friend, which is in his converted garage near
Manheim, is so high that he has five other alligators on the waiting
list.

He was surprised to get dozens of calls this summer, asking him to
solve alligator problems. "If 20 people found us in a month for an
alligator, how many others are out there that shouldn't have
alligators?"

Rothacker is so comfortable with reptiles that he often carries a
snake in his shirt pocket. In high school, he once got detention
after he carried one to a basketball game.

But for most people, owning a large reptile such as a big snake,
aggressive lizard or an alligator makes no sense, he says. Alligators
live 50 years, grow to 15 feet, and can weigh as much as 1,000 pounds.

"Reptile owners are not bad people and reptiles aren't bad pets,"
Rothacker says. "But stay away from the biggest ones."

With 60 presentations to children at libraries this summer, he has
tried to raise public awareness about the inappropriateness of
alligators as pets.

Alligator ownership is illegal in New Jersey, but unregulated in
Pennsylvania, except in Philadelphia and Reading, where pet
alligators are forbidden. Rothacker can't say whether an increasing
number of private alligator owners are giving up when the bond
between pet and owner turns sour. Animal handlers say it seems that
way.

"There's no taming a reptile," said Officer Dylan Heckart of the
Humane Society of Berks County. "They just don't have the mental
capacity to form that bond."

Heckart turned over one of the five alligators now at Rothacker's
shelter. His was among the 20 calls for alligator help that Rothacker
received in July. Ten others came in earlier this year, and Rothacker
now says he expects to receive such a call every few days.

He is typically asked to take alligators that have become too big or
aggressive for their owners to handle, likely at three to four years
of age.

Or, he's summoned by police, humane officers or pest control experts
who have found them wandering in public.

Recently, Rothacker took in two from Pottstown, one from Chester
County, one from Berks County, and a fifth alligator that had been a
fraternity mascot at a college. Another was found walking around
loose at a trailer park in Dauphin County.

"We'll take it, if it's in harm's way, no questions asked," said
Rothacker.

The ownership cycle begins when hobbyists acquire the animals as tiny
hatchlings for $50 to $100. They are sold on the Internet, through
classified ads in reptile magazines, and from pet stores or reptile
shows.

"People look at these guys when they're a foot long. They're very,
very cute," said JoAnn Jester, a reptile owner from Delaware
County. "What they don't understand is that these cute baby
alligators grow to be 12 feet long and weigh 600 pounds."

Once alligators outgrow their cages, pet owners call it quits, said
Heckart.

"They're dangerous at that size," Heckart said. "People would be
better served to learn more about these animals before they make
these impulse purchases."

In June, Pottstown police picked up a four-foot alligator that a
newspaper carrier discovered early one morning as he walked between
two parked cars. The reptile was booked into jail as Al E. Gator and
soon became the talk of the precinct.

Then Gary Bauer, a pest control specialist from Douglassville, Berks
County, who had found Rothacker on the Internet, came to transport
the 'gator. "Thank God I know who Jesse is now," Bauer said.

Alligators, with skin that feels like a cool leather purse, are
members of the crocodilian family. With their dull green eyes, black
scales and 74 to 80 sharp little teeth, you do not want to put your
hands near their powerful jaws, Rothacker cautions.

Alligators in captivity eat thawed-out frozen rodents, vitamins and
alligator pellets, but pet owners sometimes feed them the wrong
things. Al E. Gator was much too thin when police caught him.

"He's been eating like crazy," Rothacker said. "It will take a couple
of years until he gets back to where he needs to be."

Rothacker, who spent his youth taking care of reptiles - and got his
first pet snake in high school - started the nonprofit rescue two
years ago. He keeps some reptiles and finds suitable homes for others.

In September, most of Rothacker's alligators will go to Florida
Encounters, a captive wildlife refuge near Tampa. Owner John Paner
said the new arrivals will be quarantined for 90 days, then
introduced into ponds, where tour groups can see them.

Al E. Gator is lucky to land there. "People let them go [up north].
They can't survive outside," Paner said. "A lot of them never make it
down here."

Contact staff writer Bonnie L. Cook at 610-313-8232 or
bcook@phillynews.com.

© 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer and wire service sources. All Rights
Reserved.
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