News from around LA

Saw this article in the Shreveport Times, we thought you'd all like to see some of the "Traffic" delays you can have here in LA. Have fun reading. The hyperlink is also on the bottom of the article if you are interested in reading what is happening here in "Sportsman Paradise".

Alligator disrupts traffic on Interstate 10

LAPLACE — Commuters heading into New Orleans are accustomed to dealing with traffic snarls, flooded roadways, wrecks and fog.

Now they can add an alligator shutdown to the mix.

State police say an alligator somehow got into the elevated eastbound lanes of Interstate 10 — miles from an exit — and was hit by a car Tuesday morning. Rush-hour traffic slowed to a crawl on Bonnet Carre Spillway across the western edge of Lake Pontchartrain.

State police were summoned about 7:15 a.m.

The alligator had been struck by a vehicle and authorities initially thought it was dead, state Trooper Joseph Piglia said.

"They walked up to it and its mouth opened and it started coming at them. They got back in their cars! It was still feisty."

The troopers used their vehicles to corral the reptile on the roadside.The alligator was removed at 8:45 a.m., allowing eastbound traffic to flow again.

But the mystery of the tagged, 5-foot gator's ascent to the elevated highway was still unsolved.
St. Charles wildlife nuisance control officer Kenny Schmill said the state Wildlife and Fisheries Department is attempting to track its origins.

"I think someone put him up there for a joke," said Schmill, who had to euthanize the alligator because of its injuries.

If farm-raised, the alligator's tag should reveal its gender, where it was raised and when it was released, Schmill said.

The animal was at least seven miles from the interstate's nearest exit.

Had it fallen from a transport truck, Schmill said, its mouth would have been taped.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080730/NEWS01/807300374/1060