There is, we’re duty bound to tell you, a goddamned alligator in Chicago’s Humboldt Park Lagoon. It’s swimming around, peeking its creepy prehistoric eyes out of the water, and, by doing nothing more than being an alligator in Chicago, quickly establishing itself as one of the city’s most notable celebrities.
Spotted earlier this week, the gator is now the target of a man from the Chicago Herpetological Society who the Chicago Sun-Times introduces as “local wrangler ‘Alligator Bob.’” Alongside Bob’s tireless canoe surveillance and the traps filled with delicious rats, chicken, and fish he’s set, a “flying drone” has been “brought in to help search the lagoon.”
Because it’s both an alligator with powerful jaws and living in Chicago, the scaly beast has been named Chance The Snapper—a fact that hasn’t gone unnoticed by some musician of no obvious relation.
Lil Chanogator has ignited the city’s curiosity, drawing crowds to the park and inspiring the creation of Twitter accounts like @ChanceDeSnapper, which curates the latest gator stories in character between discussions of lagoon trash and threats to eat people—especially its nemesis, Alligator Bob.