Living on a houseboat is a great way to observe a wide variety of marine life in the Chesapeake Bay’s harbors. But one houseboat dweller made a once-in-a-lifetime discovery when he looked out from his home in a slip at the DC Wharf and scooped up an alligator.
American alligators are native to southeastern states from North Carolina to Florida and west to Mississippi, and certainly not native to the Washington Channel on the Potomac River.
Yet, that’s exactly where the man found one, and caught it with a fishing net. Our partners at WTOP News spoke to Phoenix Norwood, who was in pajama pants with no shoes when he captured the reptile. He told WTOP he has no past experience with wrangling reptiles.
The Metropolitan Police Department responded to a call about the gator, sharing photos of it on the docks and later in an animal carrier. They turned the gator over to Animal Control, who transferred it to an animal sanctuary in Pennsylvania.
While this is the first gator in recent memory in the Washington Channel, it’s not the first in a Bay tributary in recent memory. Not one, but two gators were found in southern Maryland in 2021. The first, in Calvert County, was baited and caught by an angler who first discovered it while snakehead fishing from his kayak. Before authorities could get involved, the alligator was killed, stored in the freezer, and turned into gator nuggets.
The second was in St. Mary’s County, and was carefully observed by a local wildlife rescuer, who monitored it along with the county’s emergency services department, but were unable to capture it.
It’s believed that any gator spotted in the Bay region is most likely an escaped or released pet. It is illegal for anyone to privately own any alligator as a pet in Maryland, DC, and Virginia.
The Everglades in Florida are home to the largest alligator population in Florida, with a population of 200,000 gators. In a blog post, Visit Everglades City points out why alligators are far from suitable pets. “Unlike common household pets, alligators grow rapidly, can exceed ten feet in length, and require specialized care. Their natural instincts make them unpredictable, and even trained handlers face significant risks when dealing with them. Many individuals who attempt to raise alligators ultimately release them into the wild when they become unmanageable, creating additional risks for local communities and ecosystems.”
