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| ===The albino mutant=== | ===The albino mutant=== | ||
| ]Some versions go further to suggest that, after the alligator was disposed of at such a young age, it would live the majority of its life in an environment not exposed to sunlight, thus it would apparently in time lose |
]Some versions go further to suggest that, after the alligator was disposed of at such a young age, it would live the majority of its life in an environment not exposed to sunlight, thus it would apparently in time lose its eyesight and the pigment in its hide and that the reptile would grow to be completely ], pure white in colour with red eyes. | ||
| The albino alligator, which does in fact exist, has rarely ever been sighted in the wild. The albino alligator got caught up in the urban legend, predominantly because of its scarceness within the wild, because of its colour, the bright white and pinkish skin makes it vulnerable to predators as an infant as well as an obvious site for any source of food it may attempt to collect. The urban legend developed into believing that since these alligators could not survive in the wild because of their colour they retreated to the sewers where their unusual skin would not disadvantage them. | The albino alligator, which does in fact exist, has rarely ever been sighted in the wild. The albino alligator got caught up in the urban legend, predominantly because of its scarceness within the wild, because of its colour, the bright white and pinkish skin makes it vulnerable to predators as an infant as well as an obvious site for any source of food it may attempt to collect. The urban legend developed into believing that since these alligators could not survive in the wild because of their colour they retreated to the sewers where their unusual skin would not disadvantage them. | ||
Revision as of 21:17, 13 December 2005
Sewer alligator stories are part of an urban legend that date back to the late 1920s and early 1930s. They are based upon reports of alligator sightings in rather unorthodox locations, in particular New York City.
History
Inaugural sighting
It was not until February of 1935 that a large alligator was reported in a New York City sewer. According to the story, printed in the New York Times, several teenage boys were disposing of snow into a manhole when they spotted an alligator, allegedly 7-feet long, that had gotten stuck in icey water. The male youth then dragged the trapped reptile to the surface. Following the alligator snapping at one of them, the teenagers beat it to death with their snow shovels. The report suggested that the alligator had escaped from a ship traveling from Everglades then swam into Harlem River and then came 150 yards up a storm conduit to where it was found.
Sewer reports
That same year reports were given to the city's Superintendent of Sewers, Teddy May, that swarms of alligators were thriving beneath the city. May, convinced that the men filing the reports were drinking on the job, took the suggested sightings lightly. It was not until he found it true that there was no real drinking of alcoholic beverages taking place in the sewer, that he followed up the claims. To his shock, he witnessed a large amount of alligators, most only about 2-feet, to be living in pipes that emptied into the trunk lines below major streets.
Sewer clean-up
All the reptiles were apparently exterminated within a few months, killed mostly using rat poison, flushing them out to sea through trunk lines or even shot.
The legend
Following the reports of sewer alligators in the 1930s, the story has built up over the decades and become more of an urban legend. Many have even questioned the extend of truth in the original stories, some even suggesting it to be fiction and that Teddy May's creative mind may have contributed to the tales. However, the story of the 'Sewer Gator' in New York City is well known and various versions have been told.
Florida to New York
The original story was that wealthy families would return from vacation from Florida to New York City, bringing alligators with them, as pet presents to their children. The time frame of this tradition is rather gray, but it has been suggested it originated in the late 1930s. When the alligators grew too large for comfort, the family would proceed to flush the reptiles down the toilet.
What happens next varies. The most common story is that the alligators survive and reside within the sewer and reproduce, surviving by feeding on rats and rubbish, growing to huge sizes and striking fear into sewer workers. In Robert Daley's book, 'The World Beneath the City'(1959), he comments that one night a sewer worker in New York City was shocked to find a large alligator swimming toward him, what followed were weeks of hunting.
The albino mutant
Some versions go further to suggest that, after the alligator was disposed of at such a young age, it would live the majority of its life in an environment not exposed to sunlight, thus it would apparently in time lose its eyesight and the pigment in its hide and that the reptile would grow to be completely albino, pure white in colour with red eyes.
The albino alligator, which does in fact exist, has rarely ever been sighted in the wild. The albino alligator got caught up in the urban legend, predominantly because of its scarceness within the wild, because of its colour, the bright white and pinkish skin makes it vulnerable to predators as an infant as well as an obvious site for any source of food it may attempt to collect. The urban legend developed into believing that since these alligators could not survive in the wild because of their colour they retreated to the sewers where their unusual skin would not disadvantage them.
The albino story is what gives the urban legend its character, as many see the story as one of 'mutant alligators beneath New York City', there have never been any offical sightings of these kind of alligators in New York City, its more likely that it was made up to add a more mysterious side to the legened.
Disclaimer
Most experts believe that a sewer is not a fit environment for any alligator, and it would be unlikely to be able to reproduce down there. The animals need warm temperatures all year round. The likelihood of its vulnerability to disease could stop any alligator from lasting long in a city sewer.
As the majority of sightings indicate the alligators were only small in size they might have been caimans, a member of the crocodile family with a higher tolerance for low temperatures.
In popular culture
The famous urban legend has reached many other mediums since its first development in the early 1930s
The most prominant reference was the 1980 film Alligator, starring Robert Forster, Robin Riker and Michael V. Gazzo. The film plays off the New York stories and exaggerated stories of the reptile's size. It takes place in Chicago and features a 36 foot alligator.