No on really knows the fate of the alligator dumped in the Beaver Run Reservoir, but it is possible that it has survived cold weather, said the expert leading the hunt for the reptile.
"I wouldn't rule out him making it through the winter," said Henry Kacpryzk, a reptile curator at the Pittsburgh Zoo. "I wouldn't bet on it, either."
The alligator, about 3 to 5 feet long, is believed to be a pet released in the 5,000-acre property in Washington, Salem and Bell townships that contains the reservoir, a source of drinking water to much of Westmoreland County.
The alligator was last sighted on Oct. 10. Subsequent hunts have been fruitless.
No more search parties will be started unless there is another sighting, Kacpryzk said.
"We have no plans to go back out," he said, calling the search an "exercise in futility."
The hunts began after the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County's initial decision not to track down the gator resulted in public outcry.
Kacpryzk said the reptile could have survived the unusually mild November. "Stranger things have happened," he said.
Lawmakers have taken notice of the Beaver Run gator. State Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Luzerne, plans to introduce legislation in the next couple of weeks that would prohibit the sale and importation of crocodiles and alligators into Pennsylvania. The bill would not prohibit possession.
Carroll cited "disturbing news reports of free-roaming crocodiles and alligators" in an Oct. 31 memo to representatives.
State Sen. Richard Alloway, R-Franklin County, attempted to ban the sale or trade of alligators and venomous snakes this year. He said the plan met with resistance from breeders and sellers, and it was never formally introduced as legislation.
"People buy these little alligators as pets because they're cute, but guess what⢠They grow big," Alloway said. "People just turn them loose. ... It's a public safety measure, and it's also a cruelty measure."
Current state law pertaining to exotic animals does not address alligators or crocodiles. Some municipalities enact local regulations.
Roughly 30 states do not ban residents from owning alligators or require a permit to do so. Maryland, New Jersey and New York prohibit keeping alligators and other dangerous reptiles as pets.
