Young was the first in a line of colorful gator wranglers who attempted to rescue Reggie from the park. “But so was I, and look how that turned out.” “I mean, they’re cute when they're babies,” said Jay Young, manager of Colorado Gators Reptile Park. Authorities assumed it was a former pet, owned illegally and released into the waters when it got too big to handle. It was hard to determine its species or sex. “Particularly in the evening, when Reggie could be seen poking his head out of the lake, they would bring lawn chairs and blankets.”įrom a distance, the animal appeared to be about 6 feet long. “It almost became a circus-like atmosphere,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, then a city councilwoman representing Harbor City. He's seen here in May 2007 in Lake Machado. Vendors patrolled the crowd with custom-designed T-shirts and snacks.įrom the shore, Reggie appeared to be about six feet long. People hurled offerings of food over the fence: marshmallows, raw chicken, tortillas. English-speaking fans nicknamed the alligator Harry Spanish speakers called him Carlito. The longer Reggie remained on the loose, the more people came. After that, no one really seemed sure what to do.Ĭurious crowds gathered at the park. Park employees quickly built a fence around the lake. 12, a teenage Reggie crawled out of the water for a sunbath, and a city lost its mind. Claims of a wild swamp-dwelling reptile living a mile from the 110 seemed fantastical. This was a year and a half before the iPhone, and photographic evidence was scarce. Rumors of an alligator-like figure surfacing in the lake began to swirl around Harbor City. Supervisor Janice Hahn, then a city councilwoman representing Harbor City Particularly in the evening when Reggie could be seen poking his head out of the lake, they would bring lawn chairs and blankets.” “It almost became a circus-like atmosphere. A decent chunk of L.A.'s budget - $180,000 - went to Reggie-related expenses. His name appeared in headlines from Long Beach to London. You could buy T-shirts emblazoned with Reggie’s likeness. But once upon a time - before P-22, before Grumpy Cat and Doug the Pug - people gathered by the hundreds just to catch a glimpse of the celebrity gator. Some visitors stop to read it a lot of them don’t. He lives companionably with a female named Tina, and if you think it’s easy for two alligators to pair up later in life without trying to bite each other’s limbs off, well, you don’t know a lot about alligators.īetween the two fences that separate Reggie's enclosure from the public is a sign with the thumbnail version of his remarkable journey to the Los Angeles Zoo 15 years ago today. When it’s chilly, he doesn’t do much of anything. Reggie, the most famous alligator in Los Angeles, lives in a beautifully landscaped midcentury dwelling just outside Los Feliz. Fifteen years ago, Reggie was the talk of the town when he was discovered living in a lake in Harbor City. The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.Reggie the Alligator in his home at the L.A. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it.
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