Dead alligator found in Coffey Co. lake

[Stalewind]

Wildlife officials are trying to find out how a dead alligator wound up in a lake in east-central Kansas.

A fisherman found the 64-inch-long alligator Wednesday in Coffey County Lake near Burlington. The lake supplies water for the nearby Wolf Creek Nuclear plant.

State wildlife officials say they have no idea how long the reptile had been there.

Invasive species coordinator Jason Goeckler says it's illegal to release an exotic species into the wild in Kansas.

Goeckler says he hasn't heard any reports of alligators in Kansas for several years. The farthest north the animals typically are found is southern Arkansas or extreme southeast Oklahoma.

Weird!

[brockert80]

It had to have been released there very recently. Otherwise, the cold weather would have killed it.

[brockert80]

OK, I misread the original post. The gator was dead when found. Still, I suspect it was alive when placed in the lake and then succumbed to the weather.

[Stalewind]

Likely it was "released" into the cooling lake at Wolf Creek.

However it is also possible that it somehow migrated here in the wild.

It certainly didn't survive the extreme cold temps we had in late December and early January.

[divemaster]

Sure it did, the water up by the plant is very warm all year around.

[Greggzee]

Since gators are pretty territorial in nature I think the chances of migrating are slim to non.
My guess would be....illegally released. Like dive said, the water near the plant is warm year round. Gators tend to move to places that suit their body physiology at the time, but they don't move that far. They use the sun and water around them to regulate their body temperature. Fish are abundant in that lake as I recall. The fish would move to the warmer waters too.
It was 64 inches long so it wasn't some 'baby'.

[Stalewind]

I suspect it was "illegally" released too, but it is also "possible" it migrated naturally.

A few years ago I read a story that tropical storms like Hurricane Katrina were associated with relocations of animal and insect species around the globe. With that in mind I'm just guessing a baby alligator could have been picked up by the winds and carried far, far away and survived. It may have grown up in the cooling pond, only to die from the extreme cold and exposure this winter. Gators don't always stay in the water, it could have be looking for food sources onshore.

But you are right Greggzee, a 64 inch Gator ain't no baby.

[laughing66607]

I wouldn't have to worry about no damned gator in that lake, I wouldn't even fish there let alone swim with a gator in that pond. I would bet your butt someone let that one loose. I wonder if a necoropsey was done?

[laughing66607]

I think migration is completely out of the question and katrina, tornado's,etc are right behind "completly out of the question"... some damned fool brought a baby aligator back and let it loose when it didn't fit in his damned tub no more, lol.

[Stalewind]

Anything is possible Laughing.

Since the gator is dead and didn't leave a suicide note we'll never know how it got to Kansas.

However wildlife experts (of which I am not) have concluded migration (either natural or man-made) brought the gator to Kansas, it wasn't "born" there. Apparently the Wolf Creek lake was stocked with fishes and species not "native" to Kansas. It's possible the gator was in a shipment dumped into the lake, where it fed and grew until the weather turned cold. Though gators like water, they nest and also hunt for food on land. It's natural instinct would have probably driven it out of the water when it became very cold and it died from exposure on land.