14 DAY TRIAL // An alligator known as Mr. Stubbs will soon be able to move about almost as swiftly as he used to in the past, all thanks to a 3-foot-long (about 1 meter) prosthetic tail he has recently been fitted with.
Apparently, Mr. Stubbs lost his original tail roughly 8 years ago, when he got into a fight and found himself overpowered by his opponent. Long story short, the gator's tail was bitten off, and many assumed that that would be the end of Mr. Stubbs.
The prosthetic tail this unlucky alligator is now trying to grow accustomed to was designed and manufactured with the help of Marc Hacofsky, a specialist currently working with the CORE Institute in Phoenix, USA Today says.
For the time being, Mr. Stubbs is yet to figure out what the strange piece of foreign material attached to his body is all about, hence his having to wear an orange water ring meant to keep him from sinking.
Still, the alligator's caretakers are confident that Mr. Stubb will soon learn to make full use of his prosthetic tail.
“The fact he doesn't try to bite it is a good sign. Learning how to use it is going to take a lot of training,” explained Russ Johnson, the president of the Phoenix Herpetological Society in Scottsdale, Arizona.
In case anyone was wondering, Mr. Stubbs is the world's first alligator to be fitted with a prosthetic tail.