Published: May 29, 2007 11:49 pm         

Garber couple focus of story about alligator

Hal and Jean Long have received a lot of attention the last couple of months concerning an unusual inhabitant that supposedly set up housekeeping at a pond on their farm a mile north of Garber.

According to an e-mail making its way through cyberspace, a large alligator was killed in the Longs’ pond after being seen and photographed carrying a deer in its jaws. People from across the country have called and e-mailed them about the critter.

The only problem with the story is there never was a gator in their pond.

Unfortunately, a Kay County newspaper received the e-mail and photos and printed them, sparking another round of interest in the gator.

“It’s been quite the story how these hoaxes have evolved. Hopefully, we can put a stop to it,” said Jean Long, who, along with her husband, has lived on the farm, which features a two-acre pond, since 1964.

The Longs, according to their daughter, Kathy Long Disney, have been dealing with the story for a couple of months. They’ve received calls and e-mails from several states, and last weekend, Disney’s son received the e-mail from a friend at Oklahoma State University.

Another Garfield County resident, game ranger David Foltz, has had to deal with the story, too.

The story the Blackwell Journal-Tribune published, using an e-mail as its source, included fabricated quotes from Foltz, who was supposed to have shot and killed the gator.

“It never happened. It was all a hoax. Somebody thought it was funny,” said Foltz, who said he called the paper and demanded a retraction.

Judy Lambert, city editor of the Blackwell paper, promised to do so, he said.

“Today I talked with the park ranger, you know, the one who ‘shot the gator.’ I laughed and chuckled myself out of a lawsuit. I apologized and promised a retraction for the silly comments made and simply let him know that we took the bait and jumped right in the boat when it came to falling for such a hoax,” Lambert wrote in the newspaper recently.

Alligators would not be able to survive in this region, especially during the winter, Foltz said.

The pictures making their round on e-mail, show Spanish moss, which is not indigenous in Oklahoma, in trees, Foltz said.

According to the Web site snopes.com, which investigates urban legends, the pictures were taken by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service district fire management officer in 2004 in Georgia.

A similar e-mail hoax, which surfaced in Jefferson County in March, said the alligator inhabited Waurika Lake, according to Waurika News-Democrat.

That hoax quickly was squelched by Tim Adkins, an Oklahoma Conservation and Wildlife Department park ranger at Waurika Lake who contacted media.