Once the alligator arrived, It was apparent he was in exceptionally rough shape. That is when they sent the text to come in right away. I spoke with the kennel manager. They had to hold the animal through a stray hold and we needed to stabilize him. Hypothermic, emaciated and dehydrated. "What do you think Cindy?" They wanted me to decide if we gave him a chance or euthanized. I decided to see what the gator told me. Did he want to live or was his fight gone? I always say it is incredibly hard to kill a gator and their will to live is amazing.

I had brought small food items that we thought maybe he would take. I documented his condition and we set him up. If he made it through the night, we would take it day by day until the stray hold was up. He could not hold up his head on his own or walk, but he certainly tried and that was more than enough for us to give him a night. Typically we do not feed most reptiles in their 3 day stays because they tend to regurgitate. It is just easier for us to handle most of their feeding on things like crocodilians and snakes once they get into our care, but this time, we started offering small pinkies, superworms and sardines. Anything we thought would be eaten but a very small amount: a pinky one day, 5 worms the next, half a sardine the next. We took his heat up to higher end levels slowly and made sure that the water he was in was shallow enough that he could keep his nose out of it. The rapid change in 3 days was amazing.

I spent the first three days putting just a general message on news stories explaining this animal was likely a released pet and did not come up with the hurricane like the flamingos or through the lake. I asked the owner to please reach out and give us specifics on the animal, assuring no charges would happen, but would help us care for the animal. As expected crickets. I had my "Gator Guy" set to come up and pick the peanut up the day the stray hold was up.

When Bob picked Lil Crusher up on November 11, 2023, his intake stats were 22 inches 1 lb and 1 oz. Once Lil Crusher left animal control, I released a public statement regarding Lil Crusher and that was the end of all media. I tend to shut things down rather quickly. It was a stray pet, no different than a dog or a cat and rescue took care of it, end of story.

Recently the animal control that he was processed through invited my rescue to participate in a fundraising event and I figured what better time to bring back Lil Crusher. The animal control wanted a spotlight on the other aspects that they do beyond just stray dogs and cats so I gave them exactly what they wanted. I invited Bob, my Gator Guy to join me and he brought a few other of the animals he helped me with from this shelter, including another alligator. It's been a long time since I have done a rescue booth, but sharing the day with Lil Crusher made the day easier.

During the event someone asked the one question I did not have an answer for, but Bob did and it floored me. "How many alligators have you rescued?" I had to ask Bob because he keeps those records for his permits. I was absolutely stunned to learn that Lil Crusher was alligator #102.

Many years ago a friend gave me the nickname of Gator. More recently with changes in my life, I have joked it is the most appropriate nickname because American Alligators are extremely hard to kill and so am I. So is Lil Crusher. He continues to do well, now moving into his first community cage. This is his first step to move into an eventual sanctuary at a zoo type of facility with other like sized animals on display. He is now 31 inches and 3 pounds 4 ounces on July 27. I'll get to spend a few more years maybe with him before he moves on, but I think he will be one I visit after he has moved to his final destination. I know where my first alligator ended up and I will follow Lil Crusher too.

We did reunite the one officer with Crusher in February. He was so excited to see the animal with a little fight and as you can guess, it made the news. This little alligator has made waves in the local media, but from these two stories you can see the officer definately got bit by the reptile bug and learned to feel a little love for the scaled kind. You can see that story here along with a small media piece about Crusher from Fox 6.
I have already hit #103 BTW. Rescue doesn't stop. Some just get under your skin a little more than others and Lil Crusher, he got a piece of my heart. Below you will see his intake videos and one of me being a gator mommy. Yes I went there. LIl Crusher will always be my peanut, even when he is too big for me to cuddle. That will mean I did my job damn good.

This photo and video are from the day of intake. He was in really rough shape. You can see I am barely holding his head because he could not have done any damage had he bit me. I was pretty confident he would not bite me simply based on the fact that he could barely hold his head up.





These photos and video are 10 days later. He is much stronger and you can see I am actually handling him like I should. I am restraining the head for safety.







This video will have a point when many cringe and I do not regret it. I love this animal. I worked hard to save his life and I will take the chance to do what I did while I am safe enough to do so. It was my last chance to what I did. He is now going to start moving to the world of becoming an alligator and soon he will be too large.