Tomas J. Bober, a reader from Perry, writes via e-mail to say that his neighbor - Bill Scott - was out walking his dog on March 16.

In the backyard Scott happened to find a 6-foot-long alligator. Fortunately the beast was dead, no doubt a victim of the cold weather.

Crazy what one finds now days.

"It was shocking to find it along one of the trails in the woods and we have a pretty good-size yard," Scott said.
It's something that I never would have expected."

It recalls last summer when another alligator or possibly a relative cayman spent several weeks swimming in the West Channel of the Chagrin River in Eastlake.

Attempts were made to capture and rescue that critter but the beast eluded the best efforts.

Without a doubt this animal died once the Chagrin's water became too cold. It certainly could not have survived the river's ice and flooding.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
jfrischkorn@news-herald.com