We're movin on up!
Many of you are familiar with the Flint Hills Wildlife Refuge southeast of Emporia, Kansas. Not far from there is the Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Plant which has a cooling lake as part of the overall facility. The lake does stay warmer than an average body of water its size because of the plant but it is not a tropical paradise. Even so, over the last few years fishermen have sometimes claimed to have seen an alligator in the small lake.
Just last week the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks were called to the lake one last time to check out a gator rumor. Game Warden Brad Hageman had chased down these sightings before always with great skepticism. This time the rumor measured 5 feet, 3 inches.
A local fisherman had snagged the dead alligator and pulled it to shore. A spokesman for the Kansas DWP told the Emporia Gazette, “It was found yesterday floating in the effluent area. We’re still trying to determine what to do with it.” So far the age of the animal has not been determined and the DWP is not sure what to do with it. It apparently managed to survive for a few years until this unusually cold winter. One possibility is that it was a pet that grew too large and was released into the lake by its owner. No word on whether it had eaten any Jayhawks.