CHICAGO _ The alligator that eluded authorities for a week in Chicago's Humboldt Park Lagoon, exhausted after his week of celebrity, was caught overnight and made an appearance at a news conference held 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. New alligator trapper Frank Robb, who was brought in over the weekend to replace a volunteer trapper, spotted him hiding in the lily pads.
When Robb saw the alligator, the animal went down and spoke a little "crocodilian." Robb cast hooks at the animal with a fishing pole and caught him.
"The second I put my hands on him, the hook fell out," Robb said.
The animal "put up a little fight" but was unharmed, Robb said.
Robb joked that when he's asked how he catches alligators, he says "just barely."
While Robb said he had little sleep overnight, the alligator "was exhausted too, I'm sure."
Asked to imitate the alligator's noise when it "vocalized," Robb said "that's a trade secret buddy, I'm sorry."
At the news conference, the alligator was in a dark-colored box with a yellow lid until Robb took it out and showed it to members of the news media. It didn't make any noises when shown off.
Kelley Gandurski, director of Chicago Animal Care and Control, said the alligator was in good health.
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 first began searching for it midday July 9 after people began sharing photos of it on social media and someone called the city about it.
"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," Chicago Animal Care and Control said in a release earlier Tuesday.
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 they haven't yet figured out where the alligator will go now that it's been captured.
