CHESWICK, Pa. — Cheswick police are alerting the public to what Chief Robert Scott says is a credible report of an alligator seen along the Allegheny River shoreline.
Dan Gerhard is a Lower Burrell resident who operates Gerhard Contracting on Watercrest Way in Cheswick. He has a dock behind his business, upriver from the Cheswick Marina.
This article was written by Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE.
Gerhard saw tracks and marks in the mud along the river after work on Thursday that he is “99.9 percent sure” are from an alligator.
The suspected drag marks from the animal's belly make it a foot wide at minimum, he said. The drag marks are 3 to 4 inches deep in the mud. He took a photo of one of the footprints along side a tape measure; it was just under 8 inches long. Based on that, he guesses the creature is about 6 feet long.
Gerhard said he searched for images of alligator tracks online to check what he was seeing.
“There's a gator running around here. It could be somebody's pet gator I'm assuming,” he said. “There's no mistaking this, I really don't think.”
He was concerned, so he called borough police Thursday.
Chief Scott contacted the Valley News Dispatch to alert the public to stay away from the area along the shoreline in the 1100 block of Watercrest Way.
Gerhard said he believes he saw the alligator in the water about a week ago, but didn't believe that's what it was until after seeing the tracks.
Gerhard said on Sept. 12, while he was working on his boat, he saw “two eyeballs” going back and forth in the water. He said he got a side view of it, and saw its mouth open 8 to 9 inches.
“I don't say 100 percent about anything unless I'm holding it in my hand,” he said. But now, “I'm 99.9 percent sure it's a gator.”
Scott has attempted to contact reptile experts at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium as well as state Game Commission and Fish and Boat Commission to determine how to proceed.
Last month, an alligator was seen in Indiana Township; it was never found nor spotted again.
Scott said he has contacted Indiana Township police regarding those sightings, but police aren't sure if it's the same alligator.
Brian Rittmeyer is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at brittmeyer@tribweb.com or 724-226-4701.
WPXI
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