Why gator hunt?: "It's an historical event"

"It's one of those things that ten years from now when sitting in a bar and someone says, 'remember when there was an alligator in the Humboldt Park lagoon…', you've got a great story. It's historical," says Noble Square's Bob Zwolinski. 

"How did you decide where to go," I asked. 

"Google maps. It showed the lagoon is really big, but I figured it would be in the tall grass. 

"The game plan was to walk along with flashlights. Then we could spot it by the light reflected in its eyes. We'd call the police when we found it." 

Q: "What was the plan if it came after you? 

"I've watched a lot of National Geographic films about gators. They don't move very fast. But this was possibly not the smartest part of the plan. 

"You know that scene in Jaws where they throw a ham in the water?" 

Q: "What did you plan to throw in?" 

"Mike," he said laughing. 

Needless to say, his fellow hunter, Mike Skoulsky, is unaware, until now, of this part of "the plan." 

Skoulsky thought Zwolinski was kidding about the hunt in his text messages…until he was at his door. 

"I didn't think there was a chance of finding it. Bob said that he would put a tee-shirt over the gator's head if we found him. But, I was sure he was joking!" 

They were prepared in case of trouble according to Zwolinski. He packed a first aid kit in his gator survival backpack! 

Following their adventure, they started experiencing the original theory of bar room story telling. They went to the CHIP INN, 832 N Greenview Ave., and told their tales of hunting the Humboldt Park alligator.

Zwolinski is no stranger to danger. He ran against Cynthia Soto for the 4th District Illinois House of Representative seat. He got stapled in the head at the hands of Soto's daughter and her boyfriend. 

NOTE: Do NOT do what this team of explorers did! The Park District and the Police Department all say, "STAY AWAY" until the gator is found.