Episode 21: For Glen

FLORIDA MAN

DEPUTIES IN A RURAL CENTRAL FLORIDA COUNTY RESPONDED THIS WEEK TO REPEATED CALLS ABOUT A LOCAL MAN WHO HAD BEEN FEEDING A LARGE ALLIGATOR FROM HIS BACK DOCK FOR MONTHS. THE MAN HAD NAMED THE GATOR AND WAS LEAVING RAW CHICKEN ON A STRING AT THE SAME TIME EVERY EVENING. NEIGHBORS SAID THE REPTILE HAD GROWN BOLD ENOUGH TO HAUL ITSELF PARTWAY ONTO THE DOCK AND WAIT.

WHEN DEPUTIES ARRIVED THE MAN WAS SITTING IN A LAWN CHAIR WITH A COOLER EXPLAINING THE FEEDING SCHEDULE AND INSISTING THE GATOR KNEW HIM. THE ALLIGATOR WAS STILL IN THE WATER A FEW FEET AWAY. OFFICERS ADVISED HIM TO STOP THE PRACTICE IMMEDIATELY AND DOCUMENTED THE SCENE. NO ONE WAS INJURED AND THE GATOR WAS EVENTUALLY HAZED BACK INTO THE CANAL BY WILDLIFE OFFICIALS.

LOCALS SAY THE MAN HAD BEEN WARNING VISITORS FOR WEEKS THAT THE GATOR CAME AROUND DINNER TIME. A FEW NEIGHBORS ADMITTED THEY HAD WATCHED THE ROUTINE FROM A DISTANCE BEFORE THE CALLS STARTED. COUNTY OFFICIALS NOTED THAT FEEDING ALLIGATORS IS ILLEGAL AND DANGEROUS BECAUSE IT CAUSES THE ANIMALS TO LOSE FEAR OF PEOPLE.

THE MAN WAS ISSUED A CITATION AND TOLD NOT TO RESUME THE HABIT. WILDLIFE OFFICERS PLANNED TO MONITOR THE AREA FOR SEVERAL DAYS TO MAKE SURE THE GATOR DID NOT RETURN LOOKING FOR AN EASY MEAL.

RESIDENTS ARE ADVISED TO KEEP WILDLIFE WILD. SECURE YOUR FOOD SCRAPS. AND THINK TWICE BEFORE NAMING THE GATOR THAT SHOWS UP AT YOUR DOCK.

PENNSYLVANIA

FISHERIES BIOLOGISTS ALONG THE DELAWARE RIVER ARE REVIEWING NEW EVIDENCE THIS MORNING AFTER AN OTHERWISE NORMAL ANGLER NEAR EASTON REELED IN A STRANGE FISH THAT APPEARS TO EXIST ONLY IN CERTAIN STRETCHES OF THE RIVER ON THE PENNSYLVANIA SIDE. THE FISH IS A SLENDER EEL LIKE SPECIES ROUGHLY EIGHTEEN INCHES LONG WITH UNUSUALLY LARGE DARK EYES AND A FAINT SILVERY SHEEN THAT CATCHES LIGHT IN A WAY LOCALS SAY LOOKS ALMOST METALLIC.

WHAT SET IT APART WAS ITS BEHAVIOR. INSTEAD OF FIGHTING THE LINE THE FISH WENT STILL AND THEN BEGAN A LOW RHYTHMIC CLICKING SOUND THAT LASTED NEARLY A MINUTE. THE ANGLER REPORTED THE SAME SOUND HAD BEEN HEARD AT NIGHT BY KAYAKERS IN THE SAME STRETCH FOR YEARS BUT NEVER TIED TO A SPECIFIC SPECIES UNTIL NOW.

STATE BIOLOGISTS HAVE COLLECTED TISSUE SAMPLES AND PRELIMINARY GENETIC RESULTS SUGGEST IT MAY BE AN UNDESCRIBED SPECIES OR A HIGHLY LOCALIZED SUBSPECIES OF AN EXISTING ONE. EACH CONFIRMED SIGHTING HAS OCCURRED IN DEEPER CHANNELS WITH HIGHER MINERAL CONTENT AND THE FISH SEEMS TO AVOID AREAS WITH HEAVY BOAT TRAFFIC.

A RESEARCHER FROM PENN STATE SAID THE CLICKING MAY BE A FORM OF COMMUNICATION OR ECHOLOCATION USED IN MURKY WATER. OFFICIALS ARE ASKING ANGLERS TO REPORT ANY SIMILAR CATCHES WITH PHOTOS AND LOCATION DATA WHILE STRESSING THE FISH SHOULD BE RELEASED UNHARMED.

ANGLERS ARE ADVISED TO KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON DEEP POOLS AT DUSK. NOTE ANY UNUSUAL SOUNDS. AND AVOID KEEPING SPECIMENS UNTIL MORE IS KNOWN.

RHODE ISLAND

ARCHIVAL REPORTS FROM THE MID 1950S HAVE RESURFACED THIS WEEK DESCRIBING A LARGE GRAY CAT THAT TERRORIZED A QUIET NEIGHBORHOOD ON THE EDGE OF WARWICK FOR NEARLY TWO YEARS. RESIDENTS AT THE TIME CALLED IT THE BLOCK CAT OR SIMPLY THAT CAT. IT WAS DESCRIBED AS UNUSUALLY LARGE WITH TORN EARS AND A STEADY GAIT THAT MADE PEOPLE STEP ASIDE WHEN THEY SAW IT COMING DOWN THE SIDEWALK.

THE CAT WAS KNOWN FOR SYSTEMATICALLY RAIDING MILK BOTTLES LEFT ON PORCHES BEFORE DAWN. IT WOULD TIP THEM OVER AND DRINK WHAT IT COULD BEFORE MOVING TO THE NEXT HOUSE. SEVERAL DOGS THAT CHASED IT CAME HOME WITH SCRATCHES SERIOUS ENOUGH TO REQUIRE A VET VISIT. ONE LOCAL NEWSPAPER NOTE FROM 1954 MENTIONED THAT CHILDREN WERE WARNED NOT TO APPROACH IT AFTER SCHOOL.

POLICE LOGS FROM THE PERIOD SHOW MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS BUT NO CLEAR RESOLUTION. THE CAT SIMPLY STOPPED APPEARING IN THE SUMMER OF 1956. SOME RESIDENTS CLAIMED IT WAS FINALLY CAUGHT AND RELOCATED. OTHERS SAID IT MOVED ON TO ANOTHER STREET. NO PHOTOGRAPHS HAVE BEEN LOCATED AND THE STORY LIVED ON MAINLY THROUGH FAMILY RECOLLECTIONS PASSED DOWN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

A LOCAL HISTORIAN REVIEWING THE OLD CLIPPINGS SAID THE ACCOUNT FITS A PATTERN OF FERAL ANIMALS THAT BECAME TEMPORARY LEGENDS IN SMALL NEW ENGLAND COMMUNITIES DURING THAT ERA. THE DETAILS REMAIN CONSISTENT ACROSS SEVERAL INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTS FROM THE SAME FEW BLOCKS.

RESIDENTS OF THE OLD NEIGHBORHOOD ARE STILL ASKED FROM TIME TO TIME WHETHER THEY EVER HEARD OF THAT CAT. MOST WHO GREW UP THERE HAVE AT LEAST ONE STORY.

SOUTH CAROLINA

RESIDENTS NEAR A QUIET STRETCH OF THE ACE BASIN HAVE BEEN TRADING THE SAME STORY FOR DECADES ABOUT A PARTIALLY SUBMERGED SHRIMP BOAT THAT KEEPS REAPPEARING AFTER MAJOR STORMS. THE WOODEN HULL SITS IN SHALLOW WATER JUST OFF A MARSHY POINT AND HAS BEEN VISIBLE ON AND OFF SINCE AT LEAST THE LATE 1960S. LOCALS SAY THE BOAT WAS ABANDONED AFTER A STORM AND NEVER FULLY REMOVED. OVER THE YEARS THE TIDES HAVE BURIED AND UNCOVERED IT SO MANY TIMES THAT SOME RESIDENTS TREAT ITS REAPPEARANCE AS A KIND OF UNOFFICIAL WEATHER MARKER.

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM DIFFERENT DECADES SHOW THE SAME BASIC OUTLINE OF THE HULL THOUGH THE WOOD HAS GROWN DARKER AND MORE BROKEN. A FEW LONGTIME FISHERMEN CLAIM THEY HAVE TIED UP TO IT IN CLEAR WATER ONLY TO FIND IT COMPLETELY GONE THE NEXT SEASON. COUNTY RECORDS SHOW NO FORMAL SALVAGE EFFORT AND THE SITE IS NOT MARKED AS A HAZARD BECAUSE IT RARELY SITS HIGH ENOUGH TO THREATEN BOATS.

A LOCAL HISTORIAN WHO HAS COLLECTED THE ACCOUNTS SAID THE STORY FITS A PATTERN OF ABANDONED WORKING BOATS ALONG THE SOUTH CAROLINA COAST THAT BECOME UNOFFICIAL LANDMARKS. THE DETAILS STAY CONSISTENT ACROSS GENERATIONS EVEN AS THE BOAT ITSELF CONTINUES TO SHIFT WITH THE MARSH.

PEOPLE WHO GREW UP IN THE AREA STILL POINT IT OUT TO VISITORS WHEN THE TIDES ARE LOW. MOST HAVE AT LEAST ONE MEMORY OF SEEING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME AS A CHILD.