Michigan man kills small alligator while picking corn

BURR OAK, Mich. (AP) - An animal control officer says a Michigan man's killing of a small alligator spotted in a corn field is a "little extreme."

St. Joseph County animal control officer Tom Miller said Friday the alligator could have been caught and moved to a private sanctuary about 30 miles away.

Forty-five-year-old Jeff Adamski of Burr Oak tells the Sturgis Journal he killed the alligator with a 4-foot bar because he was worried about a child being attacked by the nearly 3-foot reptile. Adamski says the alligator darted toward him last week as he was picking sweet corn in a field on the Michigan-Indiana border.

Alligators have been showing up far north of their traditional habitats. They've been spotted in recent weeks in the Chicago River, a Boston suburb and New York City.

___

Information from: Sturgis Journal, http://www.sturgisjournal.com