A young 3-foot-long alligator was captured in a backyard pond in Edgewood Friday morning after Maryland Natural Resources Police officers served a search warrant at the property.
"We executed a search warrant at 7 a.m., and it was based on complaints of neighbors," Candy Thomson, Natural Resources Police spokesperson, said.
The NRP officers went to the property in the 3900 block of Willoughby Beach Road, near the Bush River, with support from Harford County Animal Control Services, according to Thomson.
"Some of the initial complaints were that there were many alligators, so we didn't know what we were going to find," Thomson said.
The Natural Resources Police officers found the single alligator, and Thomson said one officer put on a dry diving suit, and another put on waders, and they entered the pond to get the reptile.
"It hissed and barked at them, and they were able to grab it, and they taped its snout shut, brought it to shore and put it in a dog crate," Thomson said.
The officers also used a large net to comb the pond to make sure no other alligators were in the water, Thomson said. They did not find any more of the creatures.
"So we're pretty sure the little pond is alligator free," Thomson said.
The homeowner, Charles Dorsey, 37, was charged with illegal possession of an alligator, according to Thomson. The charge is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $1,000.
Attempts to reach Dorsey by telephone Monday were not successful; a listed phone number was out of service.
Maryland criminal law bars a person from importing, selling, trading, bartering, possession, breeding or exchanging a live wild animal, including a fox, skunk, raccoon, bear, caiman, alligator, crocodile, a feline other than a domesticated cat, a hybrid feline heavier than 30 pounds, a canine other than a domesticated dog, a hybrid canine or a "nonhuman primate" such as a lemur, chimpanzee, monkey or gorilla or a venomous snake.
Exceptions include properly licensed animal research facilities, animal sanctuaries, animal exhibitors such as a circus, animal control officers, veterinarians and people traveling and staying in Maryland for 10 days or less.
The rescued gator was taken to the Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo in Frederick County.
Kyle Andersen, a spokesperson for the Harford County Sheriff''s Office, said deputies had been to the property on June 8 for an animal complaint.
The average size of a male American alligators is 11.2 feet long, and the average length for a female is 8.2 feet, according to an article on alligators on the website of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park.
Their typical diet in the wild includes smaller reptiles and fish, plus amphibians, birds and mammals that come to the edge of the water, according to the Smithsonian website. Their habitat ranges from Texas to North Carolina in the southeastern U.S.
Thomson said investigators do not yet know the gender of the alligator seized Friday.
Alligators are not native to Maryland, and Natural Resources Police have the occasional case involving exotic animals, including illegal fish, being sold at a restaurant or illegal sales of non-native turtles, such as red-eared slider turtles.
Thomson said the lead investigator in the Edgewood alligator case, Cpl. Mike Lathroum, has a "passion" for exotic animal cases, and he will keep tabs on situations online in which people are trying to sell such animals or complaining about someone else keeping exotic animals.
"It's not his primary job, but it is something he's very good at," Thomson said.