I knew it was bad in the creek at Jordan Park but?

I have documented the current state of Jordan park on this blog a few times:

My Plan for Jordan Park

Sunset Observation at Jordan Park

Jordan Park: Yikes

I must say, despite its condition, I never would have believed the story I saw in the Morning Call today. The headline reads: " Allentown officers catch alligator sunning itself along Jordan Creek." You can click on that to read the full story.

Yep.

An alligator.

In Jordan park.

Before I go any further I must confess my first thought when I read the article on mcall.com. I thought very simply, "Wonderful." That wonderful was uttered with serious sarcasm.

You see, folks around here are still worried about scores of poisonous snakes that will descend upon the parks like a Biblical plague of locusts if we let the grass grow, let alone establish Riparian Buffers. I am sure, that at some point in the coming months with the Riparian installation taking place at Cedar Beach Parkway, someone will tell me that there are alligators in our parks.

I understand that those pictures do not lie. There was a huge freaking alligator at Jordan Park. The gator however, was not a natural resident. Somebody, somewhere had that bad boy in their personal possession at some point and it escaped.

I am also genuinely sad I missed the chance to see that. I spent a good two weeks over the summer in our parks every day for hours trying to document the living presence of snakes and I could barely find a few garters, let alone a huge freaking gator chilling by the creek.