A new strategy emerged on day four of alligator watch at the Humboldt Park Lagoon: Playing recordings of baby alligators.
Herpetologist “Alligator Bob” said Friday he plans to use a device that mimics the sound of baby alligators in hopes of luring the alligator.
The strategy has worked “very well” with wild alligators in Southern states, Bob said, but the Humboldt Park gator was probably raised in captivity.
“We’re not putting a lot of success in it,” Bob said. “It’s worked well in the wild, but we don’t know if it’ll work here.”
The baby alligator recordings are provided by the Chicago Herpetological Society, of which Bob is a member.
Chicago Animal Care and Control will assist, as they have since the first sightings of the alligator were reported Tuesday.
Bob and animal control agents are still brainstorming more ideas.
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“Alligator Bob” may be the public face of the Great Chicago Gator Rescue, but he’s had help — including from one of the self-proclaimed “Croc Docs” at the University of Florida.
Chicago Animal Care and Control has been consulting with professor Frank J. Mazzotti, who has advised Bob and the Chicago Herpetological Society on what to do, department spokeswoman Jenny Schlueter said.
Along with the traps and the bait that have garnered Mazzotti’s approval, Bob has also been trolling the water with a medium-weight rod and reel with treble hook — that’s a hook with three points, according to Schlueter.
The experts don’t know when the creature — identified as an American alligator — last ate, and worry it is too nervous to eat.
So the Chicago Park District has shored up fencing around the lagoon to keep bystanders away, Schlueter said.
“The noise is affecting the chance of the alligator surfacing,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources is installing underground fencing to try to corral the animal into a smaller area where it is more likely to be trapped.
“If we can localize where he’s at, we can concentrate any type of action there,” Bob said.
If authorities can confirm the gator is close to the boathouse, they will set a barrier under the bridge that leads to other water ways, including beach areas.
Bob hopes the gator will become comfortable enough to crawl onto the rocks near the boathouse to sunbathe, so they can get a good look at like.
The weather hasn’t helped efforts to spot the reptile. The air temperature dipped to 46 degrees last night while the water stayed around 74 degrees, Bob said, making him fairly certain that the gator stayed underwater to keep warm.
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