Published September 10, 2010
Jellyfish at Monterey Bay Aquarium (satosphere/Flickr)
First, a Concord woman discovers she is surrounded by thousands of jellyfish in Walden Pond. Who knew there was such a thing as fresh-water jellyfish? And can someone tell me how they got there? (WBUR’s Sacha Pfeiffer said she saw one in the pond two weeks ago.)
It is not that the tiny jellyfish are rare; after probably hitching a ride to the United States in the late 1800s on Asian water hyacinth or other ornamental plants, the jelly fish are believed to have spread to lakes and ponds throughout the country because of activities of fishermen and waterfowl.
But because the tiny jellies can lie in a dormant state for years — perhaps decades — and bloom en masse suddenly before disappearing just as quickly, people rarely come across them or do not know what they are looking at when they do.
(Dennis Sitarevich/Flickr)
The jellies have never been spotted at Walden Pond before.
On the same day, we get word that a canoeist spotted an alligator on the Charles River in Beverly. How did an alligator get there?
A quick Google search turns up this AP story from late last month:
Gators Found In Northern US Are Most Likely Abandoned Or Escaped Pets
Experts say it’s not the latest sign of global warming. Instead the creatures almost certainly were pets that escaped or were dumped by their owners.
“People buy them as pets and then they get too big and at some point they decide they just can’t deal with it,” said Kent Vliet, an alligator expert from the University of Florida who tracks media reports about the reptiles.
In the past three years, he said, there have been at least 100 instances of alligators showing up in more than 15 states where they’re not native. North Carolina is the farthest north that alligators are found naturally, Vliet said.
Let’s not forget about the alligator crossing the road in Brockton, wearing a spiked collar and dragging a broken leash.
People, if you can’t keep a pet anymore — especially if it eats live animals for dinner — please don’t set it free. Though I’m not sure where you would take an alligator.
PS: For a daily dose of funny and occasionally heartbreaking pet news, follow the Animal Rescue League of Boston (@ARLBoston) on Twitter.