Gator in barracks!

It is autumn 1967, start of first class year. Brother Rat Louis White comes into the room, a proud owner of a goldfish won at the local county fair or some such event. It is my recollection that BR Dick Rankin had a small turtle that he thought would enjoy feasting upon the fish. This may not be accurate, but in any event; room 150 needed to improve its defenses. With that background in mind, one day we saw an ad in a magazine entitled "Baby Alligator From Florida". It cost something like $15 (remember, it is 1967) so we ordered it. One wonders why no one gave any thought to the fact that goldfish, turtles and alligators in cadet rooms are really, really frowned upon by the Institute. Well, a few weeks went by and the alligator did not arrive. I suppose we figured we were victims of just another scam. Thanksgiving, no gator. Christmas, no gator. I am sure we simply forgot about it. Then, one day in the spring of '68, a couple of months before graduation, two slips from the guard room are delivered to the room: "Package in the mail room" "Report to the Commandant's Office" We couldn't understand what the Commandant wanted. I was on the Color Guard. The flags were kept in his office, so maybe he wanted to see me about something related. Anyway, we decided to go to the mailroom first before it closed. Maybe food from home? When we arrived at the mail room the little old lady at the window gave us "one of those looks". Wonder what's her problem? Then she brings us this elongated box with small holes in it and markings "Live Animal Inside". Our first reaction was "Alright! We got a gator!" Seconds later - we look at each other, Oh, Sh…! The Commandant". Of course, the little old lady notified the Commandant's office. So, we ran back to the room, with the gator, and changed into our blouses. I think it was decided for me to do the talking since the Commandant knew me from the Color Guard. On the way to the Commandant's office I was thinking about how stupid we were to think we could get away with this escapade. And, what kind of penalty is in store? Confinement at Finals? Graduate on time? We report in. He says, "Do you men have an animal in your room?" I reply, "Yes sir" "What kind of animal is it?" "An alligator, sir". A few moments of silence while he gets his brain around this. "An alligator?" "Yes sir, but it's just a baby" (small gator = smaller penalty?) Silence. We await the punishment. Eternity. "You men will donate that alligator to the Biology Dept. before SRC tonight. That is all." We couldn't get out of his office fast enough. And now we were in a celebratory mood. We had a couple of hours to play with the gator before SRC (how do you play with a gator?). Back in the room now, we cut open the box and out burst the gator. He (she?) must have been overjoyed to be free of that confinement. Then BR Bill Welsh entered the room, at which time he was wrestled to the floor. We removed his shoes with the objective of getting the gator to bite his toes. Well, the little fellow was more frightened of us than the other way around. He retreated to a corner. After a short time word spread on the stoop and others dropped in to see what was going on. We should have charged admission. Fun and games being over and SRC approaching, the gator was entrusted to the Biology Dept. At our 50th reunion BR White and I were reminiscing about all this and he told me that another cadet had deposited the gator in somewhere like the Dismal Swamp. Given alligator lifespan, I want to believe that gator today is telling his grand gator pups about the exciting time he spent in the VMI barracks. Don't know what happened to the turtle.