Irish American family take in two abandoned four-foot alligators on Long Island

Alligators were found abandoned in supermarket parking lot

By

KERRY O'SHEA,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

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Alligators find home with Irish American family

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The O’Brien family on Long Island has taken in two abandoned alligators that were found at their local supermarket parking lot. The Irish American family will care for the discarded animals for about a month until they’re brought to Florida.

FOX News reports that the situation is not unfamiliar for matriarch Mary O’Brien. Her father was a police officer while Mary was growing up, and the family played host to a number of abandoned reptiles over the years.

The alligators staying with the O’Briens for the time being are both between two and three feet long, but can grow up to twelve feet. The first one was discovered in a supermarket parking lot on Tuesday evening, with the second found in the same location the next morning.

Alligators are not native to Long Island, though there have been a number of reported sightings recently. Last Friday, a homeowner in Mastic Beach on Long Island captured one on his front lawn. On Monday, a Brooklyn couple was charged with harboring a prohibitive animal when a 3.5-footer was found.

The O’Brien family will care for the abandoned alligators for about a month. The gators will then be moved to a special alligator farm in Florida where they will live out the rest of their lives comfortably.

Authorities in the area are offering a $2,000 reward for any information about how the alligators may have wound up abandoned at the supermarket.

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