The Rock County Sheriff’s Office says local residents helped relocate a big reptile that definitely should not have been at Rock County’s Beckman Mill Park.
The Rock County Sheriff’s Office says it’s still investigating who dumped a three-and-a-half-foot-long caiman Tuesday at the park at 11600 County H in the town of Newark.
Beckman Mill is a nonprofit living history park. It remains closed in winter.
Caimans are part of the alligator family native to Central and South America. They are considered an exotic species and are not native to Rock County.
The sheriff’s office says two witnesses spotted a man carry a plastic cooler into tall grass near Beckman Mill pond and then leave.
The witnesses checked the tall grass and spotted the caiman. They contacted Erick Simplot, a Beloit resident and reptile enthusiast they know. Simplot transported the caiman to Reptile Rapture Rescue, a shelter and pet store in Monona.
The sheriff’s office reports the animal was apparently uninjured, and no one involved in the caiman’s discovery or transport was injured.
A state Department of Natural Resources official notified the sheriff’s office of the discovery.
Simplot, a local Realtor and reptile lover, says the caiman seemed sluggish because it had been out in the cold.
Simplot loaded the caiman in his vehicle and drove it to his home. He says he put the caiman in his bathtub with lukewarm water to warm it up while he contacted reptile rescue groups.
Simplot says the warm water invigorated the caiman. He’s not gotten an update from the rescue on the animal’s condition.
He says he thinks the reptile rescue plans to turn the caiman over to a privately-run alligator farm in Florida.
Simplot raises reptiles at home. He says it’s all too common for people to think they can raise alligators or crocodiles at home, only to learn those animals get large — often too large to house and care for safely.
An official at the Monona reptile rescue declined comment Wednesday afternoon. The rescue says on its website it accepts unwanted, abandoned or injured reptiles, rehabilitates them, and finds new homes for the animals.
In Wisconsin, state law prohibits owning any wild, nonnative animal that could reasonably pose a threat to the safety of people or their pets.
Full-grown caimans can reach more than 8 feet long, although most are between three and six feet long and weigh up to 100 pounds. They typically eat amphibians, mammals, and fish.
The United States Geological Survey says caimans are common in
Florida, although they are considered non-native there.
USGS data shows rare sightings of Caimans in the wild have been reported as far north as Minnesota.
