CAIMAN HAVE A GO IF YOU THINK YOU'RE HARD ENOUGH; Reptile and rattlesnake found in..Galashiels.

Byline: By Jack Mathieson

ANIMAL detectives grapple with an angry five-foot alligator as they rescue the reptile from its home in Galashiels.

Inspectors from the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals swooped on the Selkirkshire town after a tip-off that the spectacled caiman was being kept without a licence.

QIt took two officers to grab the gator, nicknamed Alice. And they also had to catch a western diamondback rattlesnake they found at the same address.

The two reptiles were driven 400 miles to the Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow, where they were being looked after by experts last night.

The snake is set to go to a new home at a zoo in the UK but Alice is emigrating to Spain. She is due to fly out tomorrow to the Crocodile Park in Torremolinos, home to 300 crocs from 12 species.

SSPCA spokeswoman Doreen Graham said: "We're extremely grateful to British Airways for flying the alligator to Spain.

"She will be accompanied by two officers from the SSPCA to ensure she settles well into her new home."

Areport on the raid will be sent to the procurator fiscal.

Alice is not the first gator to be rescued in Scotland and sent to Torremolinos.

SSPCA inspectors found another spectacled caiman in 2004 in the boot of its owner's car.

Owner Anthony Quinn had kept the animal in his 15th-floor tower block flat.

He was caught after trying to sell the caiman to undercover SSPCA inspectors. Quinn was fined pounds 200 and the reptile was rehomed at the Crocodile Park.

CAPTION(S):

RISKY BUSINESS: Anundercover investigator and an SSPCA officer capture Alice