'There it is!': Alligator sightings in Ottawa County's Crockery Lake continue

    CROCKERY LAKE, Michigan (WXMI) -- Last Sunday on a quiet lake in Ottawa County someone reported seeing a six-foot alligator. Since then, Crockery Lake has had more sightings and now the lake is consumed with gator mania.

“This was the first sighting in this little cove,” said Betsy Ludwick.

She and her husband, Tom, were out looking for an alligator Thursday morning.

“They saw it close up to the shore, and they went to get their phone to take a picture, and then it slithered back in the water,” said Ludwick.

So far, they have not spotted the reclusive reptile themselves, but others have.

Ludwick said, “They, all of a sudden, they went, 'Oh, there it is!' And then it went underwater.”

That sighting occurred Wednesday by two sisters.

“They said it was right in this area that it was just floating along. So it was... it must have been traveling,” said Ludwick.

When FOX 17 visited the lake on Monday after the first sighting, Betsy was a little skeptical but now, she says, “I really do think it's real. I think that somebody has let a gator go in our lake because they couldn't handle it anymore.”

One resident is taking a page out of the TV show Swamp People to catch the alligator.

Ludwick said, “He's got some bait hooks out on the west side of the lake with pieces of chicken on it.”

Betsy says gator mania brought the community closer, saying, “It's been a very bonding situation. Are all the neighbors are encouraging each other. Everybody's out looking and talking to each other.”

The lake association is going to use their newfound fame to help improve the Crockery Lake’s water quality by selling a souvenir.

“We've decided to go ahead and make ... Gator Hunter shirts and open it up to the public and make a little money off from it to help clean up the lake, and we'll get rid of algae and invasive weeds and alligators,” said Ludwick.

She says with this many people searching, it is just a matter of time before there is proof that a gator is living in this water.

“It's just a matter of time. Somebody's going to get a picture. I guarantee it.”

The DNR says if you get a picture of the alligator, please call 1-800-292-7800.

If you want to purchase a Crockery Lake gator hunter T-shirt, you can go to crockerylake.org