CATCH & RELEASE
City’s newest hero says he ‘had a nice little cry’ after capturing Humboldt Park gator
He captured the beast. And then he had a good cry.
Frank Robb’s tears flowed along the banks of the Humboldt Park Lagoon after he captured the alligator that had drawn the attention of millions.
“We taped him up and tied him up, and then a couple grown men had a nice little cry,” he said of the moment he shared with Taurus Drake, the Animal Care and Control inspector assigned to assist Robb.
“It’s the truth, man. There was a lot of emotion there, you know? There was a lot of pressure from every angle. It was a big energy release. It was like, ‘Man, we’ve got to sit down and digest this for a second.’ And it was a beautiful thing. Praise God.”
Not long before the capture, Robb had been on the phone with Mayor Lori Lightfoot, explaining in great detail his plan to catch the gator. It was a task that a volunteer with the Chicago Herpetological Society known as “Alligator Bob” could not get done in the preceding days with baited traps.
Robb, 39, talked with the Chicago Sun-Times about the capture while waiting for a sausage and pepperoni deep-dish pizza at Lou Malnati’s in the West Loop.
It was a stop on the victory lap that Robb, an instant local hero, has been taking around the city with Animal Care and Control Executive Director Kelley Gandurski.
“Thank you for letting us accomplish what we came here to accomplish,” Robb said in prayer before taking his first bite.
On Tuesday night, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Cubs game, where he chatted gator hunting with pitcher and fellow Floridian Kyle Ryan.
“It was one nonstop selfie,” he said of his interactions with people who recognized him.
Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts stopped by at Wrigley Field.
Wednesday morning, Robb turned on Buckingham Fountain and visited the Bean. He also took a ride on Navy Pier’s Centennial Wheel.
Robb had never visited Chicago before. “Everybody has preconceived notions of big cities, just couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said. “The people I’ve met here and the friends I’ve made, those are friends for life, no doubt about it.”
His day job keeps him in Florida. Robb traps nuisance gators, mainly for the state. Places he’s caught gators include swimming pools, elevators, cars and a missile silo.
His reputation earned him a ticket to Chicago. He arrived Sunday night, caught the gator about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday and is returning to Florida on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the gator is scheduled to be transported Thursday from Animal Care and Control headquarters to its new home in Florida at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park.