It wasn’t the first and won’t be the last time an alligator is found in Massachusetts.

The discovery of a dead alligator on the shores of Tisbury Great Pond last week was certainly notable, and this New England writer can’t help but dive a bit deeper into this wild tale. It is still unknown how this animal ended up on that beach, but more than likely, humans had a hand in its appearance.

Alligators, a species known to the southern United States, should not be found roaming wild in Massachusetts. While you can sometimes see these animals in a zoo or aquarium, these facilities have the proper habitat, food, care and permits. In the wild, alligators cannot survive our cold climes, nor can they be domesticated and kept in your home if you live in this state.

This is not just my own pet peeve about wildlife crimes. In Massachusetts, it is illegal to sell, buy or keep an alligator in your home. However, not every state maintains these same restrictions. It seems that Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Missouri and Texas allow the possession of these reptiles, though most require a permit for them.

Even if it is legal, it isn’t advisable to keep gators. Alligators can reach 14 feet in length, weigh 790 pounds, and can live up to 80 years. That is a long-term commitment. They require a high nutrient- and protein-rich diet (think chicken and pork or other meat), need a large water body, must be kept warm with heat lamps, carry transmittable diseases and can bite through human bones. I shouldn’t even mention the death roll.

Nevertheless, despite these challenges and dangers, people do bring these animals home as pets or for the illegal (but lucrative) wildlife trade.  Sometimes folks find that they have bitten off more than they can chew and release these animals into the wild. 

In the last five years, there have been at least four other alligators observed in Massachusetts in addition to last week’s West Tisbury sighting. This is not a case of a species expanding its range naturally or through climate change, it is human folly.

In 2009, a small five-foot gator was discovered in a swampy area off of Route 24 in Fall River. An adult alligator weighing about 160 pounds was captured in a back yard in West Springfield where it had been kept as a pet. In another case, a four-foot alligator was found in the Westfield River in December of 2021, and earlier that year in August, authorities responded to one in the Connecticut River. Most of these recovered animals end up in zoos or other facilities where they can be properly cared for.

There is clearly a fascination with alligators and a drive to dominate and tame them. Every the most powerful can’t resist the urge. At least three American presidents kept or had visiting alligators while they were in the White House. John Quincy Adams acquired one as a re-gift from the Marquis de Lafayette and kept it in the unfinished East Room bathroom. He amused himself by sending guests to that bathroom.

Herbert Hoover’s son had two pet alligators that visited the White House, and Benjamin Harrison also was reported to have a few. Perhaps these politicians wanted to claim that they were too busy fighting alligators to drain the swamp.

Rumors are flying about how and why that dead alligator appeared at Sepiessa Point Reservation. Was it bought for food, a stowaway on a boat from the south, or released after its cuteness as a pet wore off? We may never get to the bottom of it, and can only hope that the next alligator we see will be on a polo shirt in Edgartown.  

Suzan Bellincampi is director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown, and author of Martha’s Vineyard: A Field Guide to Island Nature and The Nature of Martha’s Vineyard.