Shoe Removed From Gator at Savannah's Oatland Island

This write-up from the Oatland Island staff says it all.
You need a steady hand, patience and a whole lot of nerve to reach into a 5-plus foot alligator’s mouth, down its throat and into its stomach, but that’s just what the animal care staff at Oatland Island Wildlife Center were faced with on Friday morning. One of the 11 alligators on exhibit at the Center’s Alligator Wetlands exhibit was observed by staff swallowing a sandal that had fallen into the exhibit late Thursday afternoon. Staff at the Center were able to lure the individual out of the marsh, just close enough to be snared with a catch pole. The alligator was then moved over to a separate area at the Center’s Animal Quarantine building for the night for observation and, hopefully, a regurgitation of the unorthodox meal. “Alligators will eat just about anything”, notes Chris Gentile, Director of Oatland Island. “People need to be very careful when observing our animals not to drop anything (either by accident or on purpose) into any of the exhibits.” When the sandal did not come back up, Dr. Lesley Mailler, the Center’s Supervisor of Animal Programs and Veterinarian, placed the animal under anesthesia, and used a block as a wedge to keep the sleeping gator’s mouth open while brave animal care technician Allison Ballentine reached down the animal’s throat and into its stomach to retrieve the sandal. “We were very concerned that the foreign object would cause a severe blockage in the alligator’s digestive tract if we did pull it out” said Dr Mailler.

The alligator will spend the next few days in quarantine to make sure it has made a full recovery from the experience. “I hope all of our guests realize that our animals are on very special diets, and shoes, bottles, sunglasses and hats are not on the menu” says Gentile. “We are lucky to have such a knowledgeable animal care team that can be counted on to do even the most unpleasant of jobs!”

The Oatland Island Wildlife Center of Savannah is home to over 150 animals from 50 different species. The center is open daily from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and is located 5 miles east of Historic Downtown Savannah on President Street (Islands Expressway). The center is a unit of Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools.