Alligator caught in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES -- One urban alligator down, one to go.

A 3-foot-long gator dubbed Little Reggie was caught Thursday night in a Harbor City flood control channel, but its wily, much bigger namesake remained on the loose.

Word of a gator sighting drew firefighters to the channel, where one leaned out on a truck-mounted ladder to snare Little Reggie in a hand-held net, Los Angeles city fire spokesman Jim Wells said.

"We've gone out on (calls regarding) boa constrictors, snakes. I cannot recall a rescue of an alligator," Wells said.

The gator was discovered Tuesday by a resident of the Harbor City Estates mobile home park when he ventured down to feed turtles and ducks that live in the channel.

The gator avoided several attempts by would-be wranglers to lasso it with a noose-like device on Wednesday. It used its powerful tail to zoom away at the last moment, ducking under masses of floating primrose.

Little Reggie was named for a 7-foot-long, 150-pound alligator named Reggie that was dumped in a nearby lake several months ago and has not yet been caught.