A pet out of its element: WSU vet school officials create a temporary home for alligator confiscated in Asotin County

News flash: you can’t keep “potentially dangerous animals” in Washington without a permit from the director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

That law, adopted more than 10 years ago, led to a 3-foot long, 8-pound alligator being confiscated from an Asotin County man earlier this month.

Officers from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife took possession of the reptile after its owner was unable to provide such a permit. The alligator is now being housed at the Washington State University Veterinary Hospital, where officials there are looking to find it a permanent home in a proper facility.

Officer Grant Silver said the owner claimed the animal was in Washington for only one day and that he had legal possession of it in Idaho. However, Silver said he worked with the Idaho Department of Agriculture to verify that claim and was unable to do so. Idaho also requires a permit for alligators.

The man has not been cited, and the case remains under investigation. Silver said the law calls for fines of as much as $200 for every day the animal is possessed in the state.

At WSU, the alligator is being kept in a small enclosure, about the size of a closet, and is being fed dead mice. That’s a nutritional upgrade from its prior diet, which consisted largely of chicken nuggets, Silver said.

“These guys are designed to eat a whole-prey diet,” said veterinarian Macia Logsdon as she held the alligator, which was placid but occasionally hissed at her and other humans.

“In order for them to get complete nutrition, they need everything,” said Charlie Powell, public information officer for the vet school. “They need the intestinal contents, the liver, the spleen, the muscle, et cetera, and feeding them steak is going to malnourish them – or chicken nuggets.”

They are not sure exactly how old it is or whether it’s a male or female. Logsdon said after consulting with a number of experts they estimate it is between 5 and 9 years old. The various markers used to determine age are highly dependent on quality and quantity of diet.

“Without having known what has gone on in this little guy’s life for the last five to nine years, we can’t really get much more specific,” she said.

But it has the potential to get much larger.

“Even if he was a little stunted to begin with, he’s got a lot of growing to do,” she said, estimating it could easily reach 10 to 14 feet in length on a proper diet.

Alligators of course are not native to the Northwest, and any illegally released in even the relatively warm climate of the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley would have zero chance of surviving, Logsdon said. The winters are far too cold, and they require swamplike habitat instead of rivers or lakes.

In its temporary home, the alligator does have access to water.

“We have a little enclosure for him that has a kiddy pool so he can get in and out of the water,” Logsdon said. “We also have some supplemental heat back there for him as well and a UV light so he can get some artificial sunlight.”

As officials seek a facility that can take the animal, it is winning fans at the school.

“I like your eyes buddy,” said Logsdon while holding the animal. “They are awfully beautiful.”