Wednesday, June 22, 2005 | 11 a.m.
So far the score is Alligator 1, federal Bureau of Land Management 0.
The BLM's efforts to catch a 9-foot alligator haunting desert springs in the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument in extreme northwestern Arizona have been unsuccessful, and trappers with the Phoenix Herpetological Society have thrown in the towel, at least for this month.
BLM officials and Russ Johnson, the society president, promise to renew the effort next month when they hope the gator's natural hormonal cycle will make the animal a bit more active and hungrier for the bait in their snares.
Alligators are not native to the desert southwest. This one was introduced as a baby to Pakoon Springs, naturally heated oases about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, on what was then private land a couple of decades ago by a former owner. The springs are on a 240-acre plot that is now part of the 1 million-acre national monument.
"It's a warm spring, about 80 degrees year-round, so it's a nice temperature for a reptile," said Dave Boyd, a spokesman for the BLM in Arizona.
He said BLM officials looked but failed to spot any evidence of the alligator for three years, but in April people made confirmed sightings -- and took photographs -- of the reptile.
"The photos -- they're sort of like the Loch Ness monster," Boyd said, referring to photos some believe show a creature living in a Scottish lake.
The alligator's name is Clem, short for Clementine if the alligator is a girl, and just plain Clem if it's a boy, he said. BLM officials aren't sure of the alligator's gender and aren't that eager to check up close.
"We don't have the in-house expertise to handle a 9-foot alligator," Boyd said.
Boyd said BLM officials, who are not known for their ability to wrestle large reptiles, have called in professionals to catch Clem. Until they do, the springs are off-limits to visitors.
The BLM's 2002 purchase agreement with Mesquite resident Chuck Simmons, the former owner of Clem and Pakoon Springs, specifies that the federal agency has to remove the alligator without harm. Simmons could not immediately be reached Tuesday, but Boyd said the agency is living within the agreement.
The job of catching the animal has fallen to Russ Johnson, a 53-year-old retired truck driver and lifelong friend of scaly critters. Most of those animals have been native desert dwellers, but Johnson has also made a home for some reptiles introduced to the desert.
He said the grainy photos taken by BLM workers show an animal that might be about 300 pounds and hasn't grown very fast over the years. Clem might be able to survive in Pakoon Springs, but it isn't the most hospitable environment.
"That place is one step above hell, temperature-wise," Johnson said. "He's going to get maybe some birds and some bullfrogs, but for an alligator like that, that's not a lot of food."
The BLM and Arizona Game and Fish Department have concerns about non-native species moving into the desert, but in this case officials doubt that it could hook up with a mate and produce more alligators. Alligators, which can grow to be more than 15 feet long and 1,000 pounds, are usually found in the swamps of Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Texas.
The main problem with Clem's continued presence in the springs is that the animal could be a threat to the human population, Boyd and Johnson said.
"Somebody is going to get down by the bank and get bit, and they're going to sue the BLM," Johnson said. He said it also is important to protect the alligator from people.
He said other alligators that he keeps in a small Arizona sanctuary typically become less active and stop eating for a few months in the summer until the monsoon season brings thunderstorms to the area. Then the reptiles wake up and can be very hungry.
That gives Johnson hope that the alligator will go after the chickens and rabbits that have baited the society's snares.
Still, Clem's a crafty sort, he said.
"He's used to snakin' around. He probably doesn't realize he's at the top of the food chain."
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