CROCKERY LAKE, Mich. — Three weeks ago a fisherman said he spotted an alligator on Crockery Lake and since then it's been gator mania. Now a Florida gator hunter is going to join the hunt.
For three weeks there have been sightings. There have been a few fuzzy photos, but so far nothing has turned up. The gator in Crockery Lake is going by the way of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster. Not so fast, says a Florida alligator hunter whose capturing of the reptile will also be a homecoming.
There have been many reported sightings.
“This was the first sighting in this little cove. They saw it close up to the shore,” said Betsy Ludwick.
But so far, there have been no good pictures of the beast.
Betsy said, “They went to get their phone to take a picture, and it slithered back into the water.”
That’s not going to stop part-time alligator hunter Dan Rooks from trying to find and capture the gator next week.
“It's definitely compelling enough to go up there and put in the time and effort to look for the thing,” said Dan Rooks.
Rooks also happens to know the area well because his parents live on Crockery Lake.
“What are the odds that a random lake in Ottawa County, Michigan, has as an alligator that has gained notoriety and it's a lake that I grew up on and I just happened to trap alligators in Florida,” said Rooks.
He says his first step to find the shy reptile will be to go out at night and look for the gator’s red eyes.
Ottawa
'There it is!': Alligator sightings in Ottawa County's Crockery Lake continue
Rooks said, “When you see the eyes glow, I mean, they really stick out, you know; you're going to really be able to see that even from a half a mile off with a bright light.”
If he finds it, he will use heavy fishing rods with meat as bait to reel it in.
“Cast on it, get it grabbed and reel it in and put a noose around it, pull it into the boat, secure it, and then, just as easy as that.”
Rooks says the situation is sad, because the only way an alligator could be in the lake is that someone released it.
“You know, it's not going to survive a winter obviously in Michigan, so it'd be really nice to be able to, you know, of course, live capture it," said Rooks.
He says he is 50-50 if the lake gator exists but wants to use his experience to end the speculation, saying, “You know, it's not that big of a lake, and, you know, there are places to hide, but not that many, you know; I'm good at what I do.”
Rooks is confident if there is a gator in Crockery Lake, he will catch it. After that it will be turned over to an alligator preserve here in Michigan.
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