A sighting of the rare California Alligator:

More than a week after a man-sized alligator stunned authorities by surfacing in a murky Los Angeles lake, the fugitive reptile has already become a folk hero in the gritty neighborhood where he continues to outwit wranglers and elude capture.

Dozens of residents gathered on the shore of Lake Machado on Thursday, sitting in lawn chairs or scanning the water with binoculars as park rangers with nets waited for the 7-foot (2 meter) alligator to rise out of the muck.

"Fugitive Alligator Becomes Local Folk Hero" by Dan Whitcomb. Reuters, 19 Aug. 2005. Yahoo News.

Never fear, though:

The alligator -- who was chased around the 53-acre (21-hectare) lake for much of the week by a professional "gator wrangler" from Colorado -- did not make an appearance, having last been spotted on Wednesday night.

The wrangler and his crew returned to Colorado on Thursday morning to secure larger nets but vowed to return next week and bag his prey.

They will no doubt be reveiwing the techniques they used to capture the even more rare Colorado alligator.

When interviewed, the alligator told a reporter from "Entertainment Tonight" that he was a native of the New York City sewers, but that he was taking a break from Broadway to give Hollywood a shot. "If they remake 'Lassie', I want to be ready," the alligator said.