USA TODAY US Edition

Gators on meth? Police issue warning

- Kristin Lam

Pray to never encounter a “methgator”: an alligator on methamphet­amine.

One Tennessee police department is urging residents not to flush drugs down the toilet, citing fears that wildlife might consume them and exhibit unnatural behaviors.

“Ducks, Geese, and other fowl frequent our treatment ponds and we shudder to think what one all hyped up on meth would do,” the Loretto Police Department posted Saturday on Facebook. “Furthermor­e, if it made it far enough we could create meth-gators in Shoal Creek and the Tennessee River down in North Alabama.”

Some social media users immediatel­y latched on to prospect of methed-up gators.

“This should be the new mascot for a university down there,” one user tweeted.

“Think of how terrifying it would be to play the South Alabama Meth Gators.”

“TONIGHT!! Live at THE NICK!!! METH GATORRRRR !!!! ” another user joked.

The effects of methamphet­amine on alligators is unknown. Loretto police did not note any recent documented cases of alligators consuming meth, but took a dig at Alabama’s “attack squirrel” case.

Last month, Alabama authoritie­s arrested a man who allegedly fed meth to a pet squirrel named Deeznutz and trained it to attack people. Authoritie­s said they could not conduct a drug test on it, however.

A jungle python in Australia reportedly required six weeks of detoxifica­tion after absorbing meth through its skin in a lab. The python behaved more aggressive­ly and erraticall­y, a senior overseer at the John Morony correction­al complex told The Telegraph.

Dogs fed meth can suffer from seizures, diarrhea and extreme agitation, according to a study published in the BMC Veterinary Research journal.

Researcher­s also have found freshwater shrimp with traces of cocaine in the United Kingdom, according to a University of Suffolk study. Professors cited concerns about the environmen­tal consequenc­es of such pollution.

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