There are stories that news organizations cover because you need to know the information. There are others we cover because we think you will want to know about it.
Then there are the ones that seem like one but are really the other.
Take alligators.
People love alligator stories. You see them go viral from Florida and Louisiana all the time when a monster reptile waddles its way across a golf course or blocks a road when it decides to sun itself on the asphalt. But they also pop up far from the ecosystems they call home.
Those stories may seem like the quirky kind served up for fun, but these aren’t human (or animal) interest stories. They’re important information you need to know.
Take the several alligators that found their way into area waters in 2023. At first blush, they may appear tongue-in-cheek. They aren’t. People use Pennsylvania rivers for fishing, canoeing, tubing and swimming. They do that expecting to find things like trout, beaver or ducks. They do not expect to encounter a 5-foot-long alligator.
The danger can be shrugged off precisely because the animals don’t belong in a climate with cold winters, snowfall and ice. They are ectothermic, meaning they don’t regulate their own body temperature.
“If people have a pet that is nonnative to Pennsylvania and release that animal into the wilds of Pennsylvania, it’s not only unlawful but cruel and has little chance of surviving,” Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission communications director Mark Parker said in July when one gator was on the loose.
In September, a different alligator named Neo was reported missing in Kiski Township. Neo was found Friday along Roaring Run Trail. He was transported to a rescue in Pittsburgh. He is underweight, injured and stressed, according to Nathan Lysaght of Nate’s Reptile Rescue, but he survived.
Pennsylvania hasn’t had a rough winter so far this year. January, for example, was about 5 degrees warmer than normal. Several days were above the 55 degree point where alligators become dormant. So far several February days have been, too. It isn’t an anomaly; 2020, 2021 and 2023 were also warmer than normal.
Is climate change to blame for Neo’s winter vacation in the Kiski River? It might account for his survival — and it makes it important to recognize that reptiles can’t be dismissed as a seasonal problem. But Lysaght has had 11 alligators brought in from Kiski Township alone.
This isn’t a viral gator tale. It’s information people need to have because some people are part of the problem and others are being affected.
