Talk:Sewer alligator

Untitled

I see no point for two distinct pages, especially since both document the same uban legend. A simple redirect would do just fine. Pascal.Tesson 05:25, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

Agreed -- merging makes sense here. Fairsing 22:07, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Considering this merge has been uncontested for at least 4 months, but nobody's actually done it yet, I'm going to do it now.Psychonaut3000 20:57, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Caiman in Central Park

Now, this is simply from my personal memory (which I why I'm asking for verification before I start to edit anything), but I remember during a trip to the Central Park Zoo in New York in the late 1990's/Early 2000's there was a Caiman (a reptile related to the crocodile, appearing like a cat-sized alligator) on exhibit in the Zoo, near the children's area, with a panel mentioning alligators and sewers. I vaugely remember my father saying that one of his colleages at work (and, while this may seem deus ex machina, at the time he worked for a news-wire service) that a caiman found it's way into Central Park from the sewers and after being captured by animal control, was put into the Zoo. Any confirmation on this?

Yes, I heard about the caiman, I think his name is "Dayman", not sure. But they said he couldn't have come from the sewers. Why? He was small and could not survive in the sewers and besides, caimans live in South America, not Florida where the legend started. Radical3 16:35, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Urban Legends quotes a New York newspaper about that story. 'Damon the Caiman' finds safe haven in the Central Park Zoo.[1] Dream Focus 15:43, 10 January 2014 (UTC)

There was a similar story in Paris in 1984: the crocodile was captured in the sewer and is still alive and on display in Vannes Aquarium. It even has a name: Eleanore. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.73.235.72 (talk) 20:32, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

This outlandish claim that does not show up when googled has been moved from the main page: Following the drainage of Belfast's waterways, a number of alligators were uncovered. After being put down it was discovered that they had been feeding off stray culchies from the Holylands area. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.211.72.114 (talk) 21:44, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

The TV series Monster Quest investigated this and discovered that the sewers may possibly be an ideal habitat for Alligators, as various heat source keep it warm enough and there are plenty of food sources and materials which could be made into a nest. Though they failed to locate a gator, they did discover a salamander, which was equally as unlikely to be found there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.56.137.17 (talk) 23:48, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

Frankly, MonsterQuest is the opposite of a reliable source - a bunch of 3rd rate cranks who clearly know nothing about the subject in question (or really anything else). No sunlight = no UVB = no calcium metabolism = no gators. Simple as that. Mokele (talk) 01:13, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

I assume you're referring to vitamin D, but note that a carnivore should obtain a sufficient quantity in its diet to avoid the need for solar conversion.[2] Wnt (talk) 21:55, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

That's under ideal conditions - a varied diet monitored by humans, with rats/mice which themselves have been fed a well-balanced diet. Hardly the equivalent of roaches and McDonalds-fed sewer rats. It's also worth noting that crocodilians as a whole seem more prone to dietary deficiencies than other herps - too many eggs leads to biotin deficiency, too many fish leads to thiaminase overdose (B1 deficiency), etc.

Finally, I wouldn't trust MonsterQuest if they told me people lived in New York, much less gators. It's a load of sensationalistic pseudoscientific hogwash that's crammed on the air in a crass attempt to grub some more money while Discovery Channel flushes their credibility down the toilet. I don't even buy that they found a salamander - planting it is well within the realm of possibility, and I know that other shows do exactly this. You think Steve Irwin or Steve Austin caught all those things when the cameras were rolling? No, they were caught, the cameras set up, then released to be "re-captured". In many cases, they'd pop them in a portable fridge to cool them down so the star wouldn't get bitten.

So basically, it's not even remotely reliable, and I wouldn't trust those idiots to even *spell* "alligator", much less know what the habitat and dietary needs of one are. Mokele (talk) 00:05, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

I wasn't suggesting that MonsterQuest is a scientific publication, just pointing out that nothing is impossible in biology. And not much is impossible in New York...  ;) Wnt (talk) 01:21, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

Plenty is impossible in biology - flying animals over 1 ton in mass, eggs larger than cars, endotherms smaller than gnats, etc. That a system is messy and complicated doesn't mean there aren't rules.

In 2007 the NSF funded a study of heat generation by bacteria in permafrost.[3] According to Dr. Panikov, "One explanation is that the bacteria oxidise substances in the permafrost to generate heat inside themselves..."[4] I doubt the other things you suggest are really impossible, though large animals are rare. Wnt (talk) 03:54, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

Whoop-de-do, bacterial heat generation, not like we see that in every compost bin. The things I suggest are impossible because it's not evolution holding them back, but physics/geometry. Flight is limited by power-weight ratio, which in turn is limited by the mechanical properties of muscle and bone. Egg size is limited by surface area to volume ratio and the need for enough surface area for the embryo to exchange gasses. Endotherms are also limited by surface/volume - too small and they lose heat faster than they can generate it. Yes, nature is remarkable and diverse, but there *are* rules.Mokele (talk) 12:10, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

Tone

It would be great to see this rewritten as a proper article, with sources. Anyone feel up to the job? --John (talk) 16:16, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Contemporary reports

The last paragraphs of the last section seem to be plain hoaxes. I suggest removing that unlikely and unsourced couple of paragraphs.--Pere prlpz (talk) 17:42, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

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Someone keeps removing the recent sightings

There is literally video of a traditionally-dressed lizard crawling out of the sewers at 770 in NYC. 2601:1C2:4E00:3E90:B1A6:7895:EC:10AB (talk) 17:57, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

Sourced or not, this information is not relevant to the subject of the article. Jalen Folf (talk) 18:14, 20 January 2024 (UTC)