Moving angry alligator to new pen a big task

The Phoenix Herpetological Society was called by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to trap a gator some thought was mythical. Clem began life as a pet, albeit one tossed into a spring and largely forgotten. The gator was a gift to a rancher from a friend in Alabama, and back then Clem was small, cute and unnecessary. The rancher plopped him into one of the small bodies of water that gave Pakoon Springs its name. Clem survived on a steady diet of bullfrogs and lizards, Johnson said. Every now and then the rancher would throw onto the bank a rabbit he’d shot, or an unfortunate member of the ostrich flock he once raised. Then BLM purchased the ranch in 2002, and when it was clear that an alligator was on the loose, Johnson was asked to safely remove it. The professional gator wrangler needed two weeklong trips before he finally snared Clem in a trap baited with rabbit meat. Secured aboard a horse trailer for the 8-hour drive to Scottsdale, Clem was one ticked-off gator when he arrived, and he has been in a bad mood ever since, Johnson said...more

Can't the vaunted BLM officers wrestle alligators?  I guess not, especially if they can't swim.  Wonder what BLM would have done if alligators were still listed under the ESA?  Their brand new ranch would have been declared critical habitat! hee, hee