Nokomis' orange alligator finds Texas twin
HUE HOO-HA: Submitted photo suggests color is from rusted-out culvert
By John Davis
Published: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 1:00 a.m.
A possible answer to the mystery of the orange alligator in Nokomis has surfaced, courtesy of an amateur photographer in Texas.
Retiree Jack Bodenheimer, 79, snapped a photo of a similar orange gator in 2009 at the mouth of a rusted-out culvert near Houston, presumably the source of the unusual coloring.
"I suspect there is a large steel culvert nearby that the alligator has been using for shelter," said the retired chemical engineer. "I saw the same thing in a wildlife refuge outside of Houston, Texas."
Bodenheimer sent his photo to the Herald-Tribune after reading about the Nokomis gator on the Internet.
Venice resident Sylvia Mythen's photograph last week from a nearby subdivision became a web sensation, prompting widespread news coverage and a flurry of interviews for the local retiree.
The Associated Press put the photograph on news wires and the Christian Science Monitor covered the story under the suggestive headline: "Orange alligator: Evolution or dye job?"
One article concluded it was the "world's first" orange alligator and others speculated about more exotic origins of the color than simply rust or paint.
The hubbub has been a headache for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which has been unequivocal in its explanation: the gator is not a genetic freak, but artificially colored or painted.
"People have an imagination," said agency spokesman Gary Morse. "And then what happens is they put these hoaxes out there, then we have to spend our valuable time trying to explain away that they're hoaxes."
Bodenheimer's photograph supports the point. But this has not dampened people's interest in the brightly hued creature.
"Why a story like this becomes national news, I have no idea," Morse said.
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