‘One cast and done': Gator gets loose in Chicago, city calls in Florida expert to track it down

CHICAGO, Ill. — An alligator nicknamed “Chance the Snapper” got loose in a Chicago park for a week. With one cast, a Florida man nicknamed “Alligator Bob” reeled the gator in, wrapping up the city’s reptilian spectacle.

Alligator Bob, whose real name is Frank Robb, and Chance the Snapper appeared at a press conference together Tuesday to tell the tale of the capture. One of them donned a bow tie, the other a baseball cap.

Robb, of Brevard County, told reporters trapping gators is his life calling.

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“Everybody’s got different blessings. This is my blessing. It’s what I’ve spent every day of my life doing for the past 24 years,” he said.

He said he waited until Humboldt Park Lagoon was dark and quiet.

Armed with a flashlight and a fishing rod, he looped around the park’s retention pond eight times looking for a flash of the gator’s eyes in the darkness. When it happened, all it took was one cast to hook Chance the Snapper and wrestle him into duct-taped submission.

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Neither party was harmed in the takedown.

“We couldn’t have hoped for anything more,” Robb said.

“It was a one cast and done.”

The mayor of Chicago said the gator is expected to be relocated to a more natural habitat.

Robb said the 5-foot gator was the first he’s ever caught outside of Florida.