Minigolfers were surprised to learn the same Glen Burnie pond where their golf balls landed was home to an alligator.
The alligator was first spotted May 30 in the pond at the Arundel Golf Park on the 1500 block of Dorsey Road in Glen Burnie, Anne Arundel police said. The park is a golf recreation center with a driving range and a miniature golf course.
Police said Anne Arundel Animal Control Officer Patricia Ridge responded to the report but couldn?t find the small gator measuring about 2 feet long.
Ridge set gator traps, but to no avail, police said.
After a six-day search, Animal Control Officer Glenn Johnson used a fishing rod to capture the gator Wednesday and take it safely to Animal Control.
“Nobody has seen anything come out of that pond, so we were surprised,” said Lou Dudley, a golf park employee.
“We actually don?t own the pond. It?s just on our property.”
Dudley said the pond sits at the bottom of a hill near the park?s miniature golf course.
He said customers haven?t filed any complaints, but someone took a photograph of the alligator and sent it to Animal Control.
The gator was taken Thursday morning to Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo in Frederick County, police said.
Florida alligator experts told police the animal could have been abandoned, said Sgt. John Gilmer Jr., a police spokesman.
“We believe it got away from somebody as a pet or somebody purposefully let [it] go, because it definitely wouldn?t have been able to survive in
Maryland?s climate,” he said.
