I grew up in Bonne Terre, 65 miles south of St. Louis, and I heard that at Bonne Terre lake, a very modest piece of water on a road into town by the old hospital, an alligator was seen. It is 19 inches long, swimming in the lake, and it was noted to be following a duck.

This was reported by the conservation department. The police have done nothing, just to tell people to keep away from it and don't try to capture it.

Where did it come from? Probably by some dipshit who got a baby alligator, and now that it's growing dumped it in the wild, like too many dipshits do. Think of the boa constrictors overrunning Florida.

Some have said that the gator won't survive winter here, but, damn it, an alligator needs to be caught before it kills a pet or goes after someone. I'm bothered how authorities simply won't do anything anymore.

I'm also reminded of a girlfriend of mine. She lived in Pine Bluff in southern Arkansas, and it's rice country. Her father owned rice land, and was dealing with beavers screwing up the land. he got an alligator, turned it loose, and the beaver problem was taken care of.

So who here loves 'gators?