Two alligators have been captured at the creek in the last week. Yesterday, officials were preparing to post warning signs on the waterway, while mothers kept a careful eye on their children and everyone else sank their teeth into a good mystery.
"It's like the Loch Ness monster," said Maria Maurer, who was visiting Masons Mill Park in Upper Moreland Township with her husband, Herman, and their 3-year-old grandson, Casey.
"Maybe that explains why the geese aren't around. Usually there's hundreds of them," Herman Maurer said, gazing at a creekside pond where a single goose paddled, bravely, across the dark water. "Maybe they know something we don't."
On Sunday, animal-control officers captured a three-foot alligator at the park, a surprising find that came three days after they pinched a five-footer less than a mile downstream, in Bryn Athyn. The creatures most likely survived on fish, frogs and snakes.
The larger animal was taken to the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown, where officials learned yesterday that it was female. The smaller one went to the Lake Tobias Wildlife Park in Halifax, Pa.
Officials believe both gators were dumped by an owner tired of caring for them. And they can't help but wonder: If you find a mommy and a baby, does that mean Big Daddy may be out there?
The gators have sent local news media into something of a . . . well, feeding frenzy. For a time, they got more press than Paris Hilton.
KYW Newsradio took care to point out that "alligators are not indigenous to the Philadelphia area," which was reassuring. The NBC10 Web site featured links to "News," "Entertainment" and "Gator Warning." Its story reported that the alligators have been "terrorizing people."
Dawn Veltman and her two sons were at Masons Mill yesterday, looking perfectly relaxed on a park bench.
