FOXSYLVANIA

–The reported presence of alligators in the sewers of New York City has been a powerful and persistent urban myth, and one with some factual basis in that three Harlem teenagers did find an eight foot rogue ‘gator in the sewer in 1935.  Alligators have also been found in the sewers of other cities such as New Orleans.  Whether alligators can live and breed in the sewers of NYC has been the subject of disagreement among experts, a topic which MonsterQuest investigated in a recent episode.

Armed with a robotic camera mounted to an eight-wheeled “mud monster” vehicle (love these cool toys!), MonsterQuest probed a few sewers, although with 11,000 miles of sewers in NYC, they clearly could only check a tiny percentage of them.  Alligators were not found, although roaches galore were, together with worms, slugs, and the ever-popular rats.  As ‘gators are opportunistic feeders, these critters represent a satisfactory food source for them.  Sewer temps can also reach 90-some degrees with steam being vented there.

Alligators do invade residential areas in Florida, with one poor woman finding one in her kitchen which may have gone after the family cat; the picture shows a gator just about ringing the doorbell of another Florida residence, which would generate more excitement than your Avon representative.  While MonsterQuest didn’t find ‘gators in the NYC sewer, they did find enough food, water, and warmth to sustain alligator life.  An alligator in the NYC sewers could then go from eating rats to small dogs to homeless persons, though I really doubt that’s going on…