Wranglers 1, Reggie 0? Nope *

Well they finally caught Reggie this morning—or did they? CNN and AP posted stories this morning that the Monster of Machado Lake was wrestled into custody by the same Colorado gator-cowboys who couldn't get the job done two weeks ago. "He put up a good fight," said Jay Young, who had shown up last month dressed like Crocodile Dundee: hat, alligator-tooth necklace and leather pants. That time Young left town looking ridiculous, but on Tuesday morning his crew supposedly spotted the alligator on land and swooped in. But now AP has moved a story calling it all a hoax. Young isn't even in town. He's still in Colorado. AP:

Earlier Tuesday, a man claiming to be wrangler Jay Young, who had been hired by the city, told several media outlets, including The Associated Press, that he had caught the alligator overnight.

That story was cast into doubt when the promised delivery of the alligator to the Los Angeles Zoo never happened.

"To the best of my knowledge and all the reports I have received this morning, it was a hoax," said Ron Berkowitz, the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks superintendent, who supervises the area that includes the lake. "I called the zoo to verify and the gator is not there. I called the rangers, the city council office and my staff at the lake. There was no capture."

And I so hoped the Reggie saga was over.

Updated and rewritten 9:45 a.m.