Cute High Tech Alligator

If you don’t have much time for this tech story here’s the essential, defining quote:

The alligators love cheese curls and ice cream…

ONLY in Lafayette.

Now, there rest of the story:

The reflecting pond outside the big glowing “egg” at the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise (LITE) has an alligator. Only in Lafayette would you find the strange concatation of a premier 3-D visualization and computing facility and a “cher bebe” alligator in it’s reflecting pond. Or at least only in Lafayette would the denizens of such a facility find the gator a “favorite attraction” sit around talking about. Who needs a water cooler?

Finally, only in Lafayette would the solution to the “problem” of an alligator in the pond at a public facility be solved by moving the toothy creature to (listen closely now) the public pond in the middle of the university beside the student union. Folks aren’t phased by such a decision and nobody finds it remarkable enough to notice. After all they’ve already got gators at ULL:

Mike Flaherty, assistant director for union building services, said
that while he hadn’t seen the gator as of Tuesday afternoon, he expects
it will adapt quickly to its new home in Cypress Lake.

“They do
quite well,” said Flaherty, who said about four or five gators live in
the lake. “No matter how many ‘please do not feed’ signs we post,
people think they are cute and feed them. The alligators love cheese
curls and ice cream, but they stay plenty healthy on their own, too. It
should adapt instantly and with no trouble at all.”

Like I said, Only in Lafayette.