Posted on 11/27/2012 8:39:21 AM PST by Stoat
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Sheriff's deputies found two 5-foot alligators at a marijuana grow site where a man was shot on Monday evening.
Thurston County sheriff's Lt. Greg Elwin said deputies responded to the scene in the Scott Lake area south of Olympia when a man called 911 to say he had shot another man.
The shooter told investigators that he fired in self defense, but investigators believe he actually shot the other man during drug buy.
The 30-year-old man who was shot was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital and was expected to recover.
The gunman, identified as 41-year-old Darren C. Shore, was booked into jail for investigation of attempted murder.
Elwin said the alligators found by deputies were likely being used to protect the drugs. The sheriff's office is working with county Animal Services to determine what will happen to the alligators.
Alligators! That explains everything!
Can’t imagine they are much protection in the winter.
These indoor pot growing operations use special lighting systems (and LOTS of electricity...which is one of the ways they are caught) which keeps the area pretty warm. The temperature inside the growing area may be fairly normal to a gator and he may not slow down too much.
Just guessing though..I'm no gator expert.
hehe! Nice! I’m guessing they’ll probably either give them to a local zoo or send them to an out of State facility located in a region that has a lot of gators.
hehe! Nice! I’m guessing they’ll probably either give them to a local zoo or send them to an out of State facility located in a region that has a lot of gators.
_____________________
why bother? Shoot them and bury them. They are not endangered, why burden the taxpayer?
Don’t they need large bodies of water?
WA Ping
Tasty too
That’s what I would do, but this is hard-Left, touchy-feely Western Washington where the protection of spotted owl habitats destroyed one of the State’s primary industries and caused numerous suicides of loggers who had been thrown out of work. They care more about animals than people around here.
“sigh”
I understand that gators prefer that, but the zoos around here keep them in indoor ponds. I’m guessing that the welfare of the animals was most likely not the highest thing on the list of priorities for this criminal owner.
What a croc!
A couple years ago there were articles warning tourists not to wander too far into the national forests in Washington because of the marijuana farms run by illegals.
I'm sure you're right...I had been under the impression that the outdoor 'farms' were more popular in Californian forests due to the warmer weather there, while the indoor operations are more popular here due to the cold and rain but I have no doubt that some people....including illegals....are trying outdoor pot operations as well, as you say. I'm not in Law Enforcement and so I don't have an exact perspective on that.
I believe that there's a lot of meth lab activity in the national forests around here as well.
5 footers are still bath tub toys!
I would say as a percentage threat that running into the byproduct of Mexican trafficking in town is much higher in Washington State. They have taken over the cocaine, meth and heroin trafficking all the way up to the Canadian border.
IIRC, some of the warnings for Washington and Oregon were from the same KOMO as this thread. The articles came out about the same time as that little boy, Kyron, was kidnapped... something about drugs and some guy who might have been connected to the stepmom... don’t remember the whole thing. That was one strange case. Never solved. LE and community were so focused on the mom that the real kidnapper may never be known. I’m about 60-40 that someone else did it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.