Quote:
Originally Posted by TheVillageChicken
Every human habitat in the world was once exclusive animal habitat. The distinction with The Villages is that it metamorphosed recently.
Since most if not all the bodies of water in The Villages are man-made, it is actually the gator who intruded. I assume that every gator in The Villages either migrated from another body of water nearby or one of their ancestors did so.
At any rate, to me, the health and safety of humans takes precedence of that of any animal, especially dangerous ones. I reserve the right to change my mind if the human in the equation is a real jackass.
I admit bias, as I am a hunter, and have been fortunate enough to win two permits in the Mississippi gator lottery in the last ten years.
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Most alligators are not dangerous except to ducks, loose pets, and other animals. They tend to leave people alone unless they become friendly with humans.
I remember walking in John Chestnut Park
Pinellas County, Florida, Park & Conservation Resources - John Chesnut Sr. Park bordering Lake Tarpon in Palm Harbor. There are probably 10,000 alligators in Lake Tarpon.
http://www.lakelubbers.com/lake-tarpon-1034/
I had my blind Cocker Spaniel Amber on a walk and we were approaching a bend in the shoreline of a pond in John Chestnut Park.
When we got close to the bend, I saw two men on top of a picnic table. I was very curious why they were up there.
So, I approached cautiously from way behind them because I had noticed the gator in the water in front of the picnic table. He was eyeing the men on top of the picnic table.
The men told me that the gator had come out of the water when they approached the picnic table because some of the many idiotic tourists fed it from the picnic table.
They probably had to kill that gator just because some jackass tourist gave it some meat while having a picnic.
The men were still on top of the picnic table when I drove out but it looked like a park employee had noticed and was heading towards them.
At least, this guy (11 ft. 700 lb. American Crocodile) had not found his way to Lake Tarpon yet.
http://youtu.be/lcVPXqdtt_4