Ponchatoula, Louisiana: Ole Hardhide: Town Gator (Gone)

Neat town center, looks well maintained. They should have more information, or a guide, though, for the history.

Just off Pine Street, Old Blue Eyes is easy to find. The quaint downtown area offers some dining, antiques, and local artisans' work.

The cage was there and looked very well-maintained. No Old Blue Eyes though.

You can't miss the big outdoor chain-link enclosure right in the middle of town. We stopped in and found Old Blue Eyes quietly resting in the pool in his cage. You can also check out a steam locomotive across the street.

Ponchatoula has an unusual resident who doubles as town mascot and newspaper columnist. Old Blue Eyes, the successor of the more famous Old Hardhide, is a disquietingly large alligator whose cage marks a distinctive center of town, nestled among frequently visited antique shops and restaurants. Although there are no reports of alligator-ingested fingers or other appendages, visitors often stand by Old Blue Eyes' cage, wrapping their fingers through his chain link fence, waiting for him to move slowly around his small pool. Old Blue Eyes is quite the gossip as well, as his central location gives him access to all the details of Ponchatoula residents' comings and goings. He publishes news of the townfolk weekly in the Ponchatoula Times.