Pet project

Most people would cringe at the idea of having a miniature zoo in the confines of their home. Craig Ancell of Scott City relishes it.

"I've just always loved animals, ever since I was a little kid," Ancell says as he stands in his kitchen, where his roughly 3-1/2-foot long American alligator Rex (full name Rockin' Rex Shattner) lives in a cage/water pool of Ancell's construction.

Ancell's love of animals goes far beyond the traditional cats, dogs, fish and the like. Cats and dogs are part of the menagerie, though. Three dogs -- one small, one medium, one large -- populate the residence along with a cat. But so do two goats: the adolescent Billy, who loves to roughhouse, and the old man Tanner.

Billy and Tanner hang out in the backyard with another friend, the 400-pound potbelly pig Mary.

"She doesn't like men," warned Ancell's girlfriend, Jessica Simms.

Once Mary got out of the 2-acre fenced-in area of the backyard and lay in the middle of Rock Levee Road, where the couple lives. The police had a hard time getting Mary to budge from the middle of the street. Simms said they didn't have the woman's touch with the big pig.

Mary doesn't like men but loves children, said Ancell. The pig likes to have her belly rubbed and to come inside the house -- a treat she, Billy and Tanner get every now and then.

With all these animals, the house is full of love -- and chores.

Simms can testify to the amount of work caring for the animals takes. She has been with Ancell for nine years and has become accustomed to his wild lifestyle.

"In the beginning it was very tough, with all the maintenance and upkeep," she said. "It was like finding a second job."

When the couple gets home from work, their first tasks are to shell out some affection and some food to their pals -- even Rex.

Even though he's a reptile, Rex still has personality, said Ancell, and still loves his master -- as much as an alligator can, anyway.

"I'll get him out, and we'll hang out and just watch TV," says Ancell as he holds Rex, petting the small gator's head.

Ancell handles Rex without fear. While in the cage Rex spends much of his time out of sight in the water tank that sits below the cage. To get him out Ancell simply calls for Rex and sometimes wiggles his fingers on the cage floor. Few people would be brave enough to wave appendages in front of an alligator, but few people own alligators.

It's legal to own Rex in Missouri, but if Ancell lived across the river in Illinois he and his gator would be in an illicit relationship, said Catherine Stovall, owner of the pet store A&S Tropical Fish, Birds and Reptiles in Cape Girardeau.

The Scott City city code allows Ancell to keep Rex as long as he's properly cared for and doesn't present a danger to humans -- meaning he has to be secured in his cage. Nor does the city code prevent Ancell from keeping the goats and pig like Cape Girardeau's does.

In the five-plus years Ancell has owned Rex he's taken steps to make the gator as tame as possible. That means no fresh meat, especially nothing alive. Rex's diet consists of plump, frozen white mice.

Ancell said the day probably will come when he has to get rid of Rex, since the gator might become too big and mean as it grows into adulthood. Given the right care, the gator will grow 12 to 15 feet long and can live up to 70 years. But before he gets too big, Ancell plans to give his friend up to a zoo or somewhere he can lead a more comfortable, normal alligator life.

Until then Rex and the other animals provide for interesting conversation pieces when the family has guests over. So does Rex's food.

Ancell's roommate, Derrick Sander, once grossed out a girlfriend by offering her ice cream, then taking out a frozen mouse and sticking it in his mouth.

"Of course, she didn't want any ice cream," Sander says with a smile.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182