An alligator ambling across a busy street in Montreal might be a sure sign of global warming but the true story behind this chilly croc's walk is much more prosaic.
Fancy a winter walk in downtown Montreal? With temperatures barely reaching 20 degrees you'd best be wearing a fur coat – faux-fur for people, real fur for animals, of course. Looks like someone (or some thing) didn't get the memo, and we'll take this moment to remind one and all that a tropical creature in the Canadian winter is a recipe for a reptile dysfunction.
The scaly critter – originally described as a crocodile but later determined to be an alligator – was recorded as it slowly and deliberately crossed Jarry Street East on December 15th of 2019. Mayssam Samaha was in a nearby coffee shop when she noticed the bizarre happening. “It took a few seconds for my brain to comprehend what was happening,” explained Samaha to the host of CBC Montreal's Daybreak radio program. While her companion ran out to direct traffic around the not-so-leapin' lizard, Samaha whipped out her phone and recorded the scene for posterity.
The fierce-looking yet undoubtedly freaked-out 'gator managed to make it through traffic unscathed, taking refuge beneath a parked car. Before police could arrive at the scene, however, the creature's keepers re-captured their wandering “employee” who escaped from their van before an automatic door had fully closed.
According to police, the alligator belonged to a company that specializes in exotic animal demonstrations. Dudes, you had one job... and you succeeded beyond all expectations! By the way, it should be said that Montrealers HAVE seen crocodilians in their city before. The 60-foot-tall Nelson's Column monument in Place Jacques-Cartier, erected in 1809, features a carved stone crocodile skulking at the base of its western face. (via CBC, image via Gilliandr's Blog)
