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Homeowners training an Alligator

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  • FrommerStop

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    There was a long thread here about a croc eating a small annoying dog and other crocodylians eating people and such.
    Here is logical way to co-exist with a gator by setting boundaries.
    I was talking to a fellow that I shoot bullseye with over at the pensacola rifle and pistol club and he described how they had trained the local 9 ft alligator to stay away from their side of a local bayou. When it ever it gets close to their side about 4 of the homeowners shoot it with a bb gun. The bbs do not injure it. They do not want to kill it because then they might get an untrained gator that would be more dangerous. She keeps a nest on the other side of their local bayou. Dogs often chase deer on the marshy opposite shore. Once they saw two lab like dogs chasing a deer and right behind them was the gator that was following the dogs. He did not say how that ended.

    A trained gator does have one benefit, it eats other animals that one does not want around that likely includes water moccasins.

    Although cottonmouths or water moccasins are at the top of the food chain, preying on other snakes, small animals, insects and large mammals on occasion, they are not immune to becoming the prey of other animals, including other species of snakes, turtles, alligators, mammals and birds. The greatest threat to the water moccasin, however, is man.
     

    Big Shrek

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    It'll work until the gator has thick enough skin that it ignores the BB's...then, much like the annoying dog...
    the owner of the BB gun and his family may feel the gator's wrath.

    To put a fine point on it, once they get above 8'...just get a tag and resolve it the old fashioned way,
    or some little kid may not survive an encounter in the future...like that poor kid at Disney.
    Used to run a pair of SAR dogs...let's just say that in the case of missing kids, some of 'em were et.
    But NOBODY ever wants to talk about that...just as long as nobody saw it or it wasn't caught on camera.
     

    FrommerStop

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    It'll work until the gator has thick enough skin that it ignores the BB's...then, much like the annoying dog...
    the owner of the BB gun and his family may feel the gator's wrath.

    To put a fine point on it, once they get above 8'...just get a tag and resolve it the old fashioned way,
    or some little kid may not survive an encounter in the future...like that poor kid at Disney.
    Used to run a pair of SAR dogs...let's just say that in the case of missing kids, some of 'em were et.
    But NOBODY ever wants to talk about that...just as long as nobody saw it or it wasn't caught on camera.

    Upon what experience are speaking from. The Alligator is I was told at 9 ft. Is there some magic point at 8 ft where gator ceased being annoyed by a bb. I do not live there and certainly do not have dog in the race er should I say in the water. There about 4 or 5 different residences from which it gets shot with bbs. It is not fed which will certainly attract a gator and its presence is not tolerated on on that side of the bayou. Not sure what I would in his place. I accept him at his understanding of the situation that gator has been trained. I think if there is a complaint to the FWC they will not be granted a tag to shoot it themselves. So applying for a tag is a silly recommendation. The procedure for nuisance gators is as below.
    The Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP) is administered by the FWC's Division of Hunting and Game Management. SNAP is one of five components of Florida’s comprehensive Alligator Management Program. Its mission is to address complaints concerning alligators.

    Persons with concerns about an alligator may call our toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286). Generally, an alligator may be deemed a nuisance if it is at least four feet in length and the caller believes it poses a threat to people, pets or property.

    SNAP uses contracted nuisance alligator trappers throughout the state to remove alligators from locations where they are unwanted or unwelcome. If a complaint meets the qualifying criteria, SNAP will issue a permit to a contracted nuisance alligator trapper authorizing the removal of the animal.

    Complainants must be able to grant legal access to the property on which the alligator is located. SNAP does not permit the removal of nuisance alligators from private or publicly managed property without first obtaining permission from the property owner or management authority.

    In 2017, SNAP received 13,210 nuisance alligator complaints resulting in the removal of 8,455 nuisance alligators
     

    Big Shrek

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    A 9' gator in a populated area, even foisted off with BBguns, is a huge problem waiting to happen.
    it's capable of taking an adult, and should be viewed as quite dangerous.
    They're territorial predators of opportunity, and should be taken very seriously.
    6'6 gator took Alexandria Murphy awhile back...ain't gotta be a huge one...just a live one.
    10' gator tore a 17-yr old's are off recently as well...kid's lucky he didn't bleed to death.
    Gator attacks don't happen real often, & usually could have been avoided if the problem had been properly reported.

    8' is the point one of the trappers working The Escambia/Santa Rosa area for the last 20 years, kills them
    instead of removing & relocating...for multiple reasons, the biggest being the danger of alligators of that size.
    All it takes is a few seconds for a gator to grab a visiting grandkid off the edge of a pond...and don't forget that
    sizable gators can climb up & over a chain link fence...so that's no help either.

    Get a permit, make some boots :) Or report it and let FWC take care of it before it becomes a real bad day.
    Remember that Dog who chased crocs for over a decade...then the croc got to a certain size, and ate the dog??
    bet they thought that croc was trained until that day ;) Yeah, I know, gators & crocs...but the gal who got eaten
    in Davie recently was walking her dogs and tried to protect them when she was killed...
    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...casey-darwin-australia-adelaide-a8386081.html
     
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    John B.

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    Lol... that BB gun isn't going to phase that gator once it becomes hungry... a 9ft gator is big enough to do some serious damage. The skull on the right is from an 8'10", the skull on the left is an 11'4".... my dog is 75lbs...
    6ea704852c57176d0719b6004db6d3ed.jpg


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    FrommerStop

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    Lol... that BB gun isn't going to phase that gator once it becomes hungry... a 9ft gator is big enough to do some serious damage. The skull on the right is from an 8'10", the skull on the left is an 11'4".... my dog is 75lbs...
    6ea704852c57176d0719b6004db6d3ed.jpg


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    Those skulls are impressive. What is more notable is just how small the brains are on those skulls, but gators are not necessarily stupid.

    If the gator eats somebody I will let you guys all know. lol.
    They are worried that if they kill it that another that is more aggressive would take its place.

    Believe it or not in Africa the most dangerous large animal of the water is the hippo. Glad we do not have those here.

    I am worried that some day one might come up my little creek in pace. I have no idea if there are any pools in the creek bed or not for a gator. There are impoundments that some have made of smaller creeks and springs going in to it. Otters do pass by now and then to clean out the fish so maybe there is not so much food around for them.
     
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    John B.

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    All that gator is going to do is get bigger, and become more educated... If they are even remotely concerned, they need to call it in to SNAP.

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    FrommerStop

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    All that gator is going to do is get bigger, and become more educated... If they are even remotely concerned, they need to call it in to SNAP.

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    If someone were to go over to its side of the bayou to wade or maybe go in a pirogue you could be in trouble. It is claimed it is a female and that it nests over there. As you all say a gator of that size can take an adult human. Kids can go just about anywhere and so even if it stayed on its side of the bayou it could present a danger to others that do not know it is there.
    There are quiet ways that do not involve a gun that will kill a gator and I would not want it close to me. But I do not live there and the people there are not my kin. All gators that I have come close to fled, but that can not be counted upon for sure. Maybe there was a big one just lurking, waiting for a chance for a meal that I did not know about.
     

    MauserLarry

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    I was on a job that had a large dragline working a ditch. It had a nice set of tools on it and a welding machine. A gator hung around to get the goodies that the dragline threw up on the bank. The oiler on the machine threw the welding rods at the gator every chance he got getting lucky every now and then and scoring a hit. The operator and him had to ride a boat in and out to work. The gator was smart enough to recognize the oiler that was messing with him and tried to get to him in the boat several times. He paid no attention to the operator who never threw anything at him. Definitely gave me much more respect for alligators that persists to this day.
     

    FrommerStop

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    John B.

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    On the news this morning they said the gator was hissing under the treed girl and then attacked the responding deputy where upon it was shot. Sounds like a nest was nearby or for some reason it was defending its territory. Said to have been 11 ft long.
    Agro male... females do not get that big, and males do not care about nests.

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    Viking1204

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    Probably just hungry! Makes you wonder about all the attacks lately. With gator populations on the rebound there seems to be more and more bigger gators, 10' + and I imagine they get hungry and just maybe there's not enough natural prey in the water for them. Or they're just lazy (smart) and see kids and adults that play near and in the water easy prey!
     

    FrommerStop

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    Agro male... females do not get that big, and males do not care about nests.

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    Probably just hungry! Makes you wonder about all the attacks lately. With gator populations on the rebound there seems to be more and more bigger gators, 10' + and I imagine they get hungry and just maybe there's not enough natural prey in the water for them. Or they're just lazy (smart) and see kids and adults that play near and in the water easy prey!
    according to the quote below you are correct for average size expectations
    One physical characteristic that often sets male and female American alligators apart from each other is size. The males of the species are markedly bigger than the females. The boys typically grow to just over 11 feet long, while the girls usually grow to a little more than 8 feet. http://animals.mom.me/characteristics-male-female-american-alligator-7222.html
     

    FrommerStop

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    FrommerStop

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    The Florida wildlife people are looking for this fellow
    Bizarre moment: video shows a Florida man taking his ALLIGATOR on a beer run. video posted to Facebook walking into the store in Jacksonville with the gator's mouth taped shut. Robby Stratton, of Jacksonville, Florida, terrified customers after he brought in a live alligator into a convenience store. In video posted to Facebook, he is seen bring the alligator inside (left and right) and asking if there is any beer left
     

    FrommerStop

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    Gator does not eat tasty morsel in form of a silly girl

    Really stupid

    But Noland didn’t take her photos with Big Tex just for the fun of it.

    “He’s one of my best friends here,” the soon to be Aggies alumna told KTXS.

    Noland told The Wichita Eagle that she has been getting to know Big Tex since May 17 as part of her 3-month internship with the alligator adventure park and sanctuary. She’ll be graduating with a degree in wildlife ecology this week.

    “It’s something I’m super proud of,” she told The Eagle in reference to her gator senior photos, because she and Big Tex were not best friends from the start.

    “It took him a few weeks for him to like me,” she said. When she first started working with him, she would stay outside of the fence. But as time went on and as they both got more comfortable with each other, she would start “scooting closer.”

    Then they got a lot closer, just like someone might be with their fluffy puppy.

    “It’s just like how your dog would treat you if you treat him well,” Noland told The Eagle.

    It was only a matter of time — a few weeks, to be exact — before she was tickling his nose and giving him food and kisses. Oh, and balancing her class ring on his nose.

    Read more here: https://www.kansas.com/news/nation-world/national/article216159170.html#storylink=cpy
    grad pict 14 ft gator.PNG
     

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