LIGO Livingston has always had an alligator as far as I can remember. Unfortunately I never met the original one that apparently wandered onto the site during the construction phase. That one was apparently killed by one of the local hunters.
As a goodwill gesture, the head of the local hunting club donated a little alligator to the site. This 'gator was probably the friendliest and most photogenic of the bunch so far. At the moment we think there maybe as many as 5 alligators at the site.
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Sometimes fed a steady diet of chicken or food scraps this alligator got to be pretty friendly. A bit too friendly at times. Once making its way out as far as the X-end car park. In fact if you stood at the edge of the X-end pond, you could call out and the alligator would appear as if out of nowhere. Sometimes you didn't even have to call and the alligator would appear in front of you.
Junior came to the site courtesy of Mr. James who apparently found it wandering around his backyard one morning. This alligator used to hang out near the old rickety wooden bridge.
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This alligator and No. 2 were taken away by the state wildlife and fisheries department, supposedly to a wildlife reserve, on the 19th September, 2000. But we all know what happened to Boxer right?
This alligator showed up after a long intense wet spell. The first of the alligators to come under the no feeding rule, I think this alligator is still at the site and is probably the biggest one we have. Occassionally it can be seen down at the X-end.
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Tom Evans came across this guy whilst cycling down the Y-arm. It was the first time alligators were spotted down the Y-arm. These photos are provided courtesy of Tom.
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Around LIGO Livingston YAG stands for "Yet Another 'Gator" not "yttrium-aluminium-garnet". As I approached closer to get a better shot, I came upon a snake that promptly dived into the water. The resulting noise scared YAG who then dived into the water too.
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