Gator Mater

The wise proclaim that love knows not the bounds of reason or propriety, hence Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller, Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn, Sonny and Cher, Bert and Ernie. So who are we to judge one alligator's love for a garbage truck?

To put it bluntly, Attitude, a 25-year-old female American alligator housed at the Sarasota (Fla.) Jungle Gardens, gets hot and bothered by the sound of the local garbage truck making its rounds. The truck's rumbling engine and the low-frequency sounds it generates as it hoists garbage bins cause the 12-foot-long, 600-pound gator to snap to attention, raise her tail and bellow. Her handlers aren't sure if this represents a coy response to a potential mate, or an aggressive challenge to an interloper in her territory, but they're leaning toward the former.

Strangely, none of the other gators in the park seem to acknowledge the garbage truck's sweet nothings. That's just as well. The only thing sadder than unrequited gator-truck love is a messy gator-truck love triangle.
SOURCE: Bay News 9