Hello again, Story Club members.

I'm Ivy, your ghostly host with the most and keeper of the strangest,

spookiest tales on earth.

Today is another Ivy's chilling tale.

This scaly tale story club members might make you wonder what's crawling around in your sewer system.

It's an urban legend called Alligators in the Sewers.

So one February 9th, I happened to be in New York City when I learned that in Manhattan, that date is Alligators in the Sewers Day.

Something struck a chord with me.

I'd heard something about Alligators in the sewers,

and I'd even seen a couple of movies about it.

But what was the truth behind this strange urban legend?

I didn't know, so I did some digging

and came up with some fascinating facts

and plenty of fiction.

Apparently, as the story goes, in 1935, sewer workers reported alligators dwelling underground

in the New York sewer system.

How did the alligators get there?

In the early to mid-20th century, one could actually order a baby alligator through the mail at a small cost.

What seemed to happen is that people would buy these water-dwelling reptiles as pets,

keeping them in their sinks and bathtubs until they got to beg.

Then they would either flush the animals down the toilet or discarded them down a sewer grade.

The animals would then grow in the bacteria-ridden filth of the sewer, eating garbage in rats.

...