quasi Report This Comment
Date: May 09, 2009 02:01PM

LAUREL - As the temperature cranks up, so do alligator hormones, putting the scaly creatures on the move in search of mates, as Nokomis resident Jan Keith discovered Friday morning.


According to the FWC Web site, it is not safe to simply relocate nuisance alligators. Trappers often make money selling the reptiles' meat and hide. Keith was getting ready to leave her house around 9:30 a.m. when a neighbor called to warn her that a big bull gator was camping out on her front porch.

It was not a huge surprise to Keith. The Calusa Lakes golf course community she has called home for 14 years is something of a gator haven, with residents sighting animals up to 12 feet in length over the years.

"We've had a few in the neighborhood like that before," she said. "We get some big ones."

Still, eight feet is nothing to take lightly, said trapper Harry Flechig.

"You get an alligator this big in your front yard, it's a danger," Flechig said. "This one could actually hurt you very badly."

This is the worst time of year for aggressive alligators. Mating season gets them riled up and moving from pond to pond in search of a partner, Flechig said, noting that 31 alligators were captured in the region on Thursday.

Keith was not taking any chances Friday. She jumped in her car and split while two Sarasota County sheriff's deputies helped Flechig wrangle the reptile.

Half a dozen neighbors gathered to take pictures as the animal hissed and rolled in the yard for 15 minutes. The alligator was subdued in the back of Flechig's truck by 10:15 a.m.

Calusa Lakes maintenance man Tom Stoutjesdyk called the alligator "average size" and said the animals typically keep to themselves in the golf course ponds.

Neighbors were divided over whether the animal should be removed. Sophia Fong was happy to see it go. Her 12-year-old son walks the family's corgi-sheltie mix every morning after breakfast.

"I'm glad my boy didn't run into it this morning," Fong said. "That's scary!"

Keith was sympathetic, though.

"The poor gator, I hope he's going to be OK."

Nuisance alligators become the property of the trapper. Most of a trapper's compensation comes from selling the alligator meat and hide.

According to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Web site, it is not safe to relocate nuisance alligators.

"Relocation does not change the behavior that caused the alligator to be a nuisance, and relocated alligators frequently return to their capture site. As a result, these alligators would continue to pose a danger."

Flechig urged anyone who spots an alligator in a populated area to call the FWC.

The FWC traps about 7,000 nuisance alligators every year. The animals can grow up to 14 feet and weigh 1,000 pounds.

dv8 Report This Comment
Date: May 09, 2009 05:42PM

i'm waiting for its mouth to open and see your sister smiling at us from inside again

Wolfgang613 Report This Comment
Date: May 09, 2009 05:58PM

All she need is a "Beware of Alligator" sign. That would keep the kids off her lawn.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: May 09, 2009 06:28PM

dog next door shitting on your yard....?

southern outlaw Report This Comment
Date: May 12, 2009 10:39AM

only in a world this fuckin self centered could an animal, reacting to natural instinct, having been on this planet much longer than us, be considered a nuisance. relocate the little bastard, let him get some ass, and go on with your short, miserable lives

quasi Report This Comment
Date: May 12, 2009 03:26PM

You're absofrigginlutely right, outlaw.

fossil_digger Report This Comment
Date: May 12, 2009 06:39PM

i think that relocating him could offset the natural balance in that area causing population explosions of gator prey animals, as well as the local gator populus, possibly impacting the eco-system worse than if you just fuckin' leave him alone. but that's me.

and if you live in an area like this and have a little "chihua hua" snack dog.....well now you know why people are laughing at you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2009 06:42PM by fossil_digger.

quasi Report This Comment
Date: May 13, 2009 04:11PM

I just spent a couple of hours in my canoe on my favorite local creek. Fortunately, though I was an intruder in their neighborhood, none of the gators declared me a nuisance or tried to relocate me. I didn't even see any of them though I heard a few bulls grunting in some of the backwaters off of the main stream. I try not to bother them. The link is to a picture I posted of the creek at the point where I put my canoe in.

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