My just-after-Earth Day message is this: There is an alligator in my lake. Actually, that may not quite true, the little fellow—between two and three feet in length—may be a Spectacled Caiman or a species that goes by the name of Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman. All three of these crocodilians are available in the pet trade, and Missouri, where my lake is located, has the most spectacularly lax regulations for exotic pets in the nation.