Quote:
Originally Posted by under55
I wish we had a gator in our pond that would be so cool.
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While living in Tampa a few years ago, I saw gators crossing the highway ramp right at the stop sign coming off of I-75. There was a small pond nearby that they must have called home. We lived in a new development and also had neighbors who found a gator in their pool more than once... they chewed right through the lanai screen on each occasion (the gators, not the neighbors).
Unfortunately, other people in the neighborhood started feeding them and some unthinking adult actually taught the kids how to call them (with a mating sound) after taking a nature study course! This was very scary because some terrible events regarding gators and their prey had just occurred which I will not go into here.
We currently live in Pennsylvania and deer are the problem here. The "animal rights" people will not let them be taken out even with carefully controlled herd thinning practices. So, we routinely find them sleeping in the flower beds, or munching on the plantings. They have no fear... they just walk around the neighborhood or jump in front of your car whenever they feel like it (they are not too smart).
If the damaged or destroyed landscaping was the only problem that would be one thing, but deer also have tics which then get into your grass and then land on you when you least expect it. These tics carry a debilitating form of limes disease. My neighbor got a bad case of it just from working in the mulch last spring.
The point is that there may not be too many gators in TV now, and they may currently be afraid of people, but that could change. So, if you have (or are thinking of) a pond view please be vigilant. Finally (although I'm sure I would love the view as well), we must all make sure that future practices in The Villages allow for keeping the gator population under control.