An excerpt from a lengthy article on sewers:
New Scientist
April 1, 1995
Features, Page 17
The Effluent Society
Byline: Peter Aldhous
Like many of Hollywood's flights of fancy, however, some of its unlikely sewer
tales contain a grain of truth. In 1984, a live baby Nile crocodile was pulled
out of the Parisian sewers. Today, it lives in more desirable surroundings at
the Tropical and Oceanographic Aquarium in Vannes, Brittany. And in Florida,
alligators quite regularly crawl into the storm drains. Dennis David is section
leader of the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission's alligator
management programme. He receives some 10 000 "nuisance alligator" complaints
each year. Most incidents happen above ground, but around a dozen involve
alligators in the culverts beneath roadside drains. These animals are quickly
removed, to avoid tragic child-alligator confrontations. "Kids play around the
drains and they begin poking sticks and throwing rocks at them," says David.
