I thought the gators in TV had to be 4 ft or larger to be declared a nuisance?

Gotta agree. No different than killing cows for food and leather.

For your enlightenment. From the Orlando Sentinel. Happened in Leesburg.


Alligator attacks, rips arm off elderly woman in Florida; gator trapped, killed - Worldnews.com

I blame Bambi. That's right I blame Bambi. Ever since Disney did that Bambi movie in the 1950's kids have been haunted by the prospect of hunting animals and they in turn passed that onto their offspring and their offspring to their offspring................As a result we have a national problem with an over population of deer, wolves, bison and alligators, etc. This over population is having a negative financial affect to farmers, ranchers, etc and is having a negative affect on forests, grazing lands, etc. Bears are finding their way to bedroom communities.

The bison at Lake Sumter Landing were always slated to be move and used as a tax strategy for those lands until the Developer was ready to develop the property. The lawsuit story was a red herring because it was anticipated that people would be disappointed that the bison were moved.

I understand your concern, but that was not the fault of the gater. Maybe it is part of natures plan "survival of the fittest". I feel sorry for the Old Woman, but don't kill all wildlife that takes advantage of the week or the old.

Let's be logical
 

By what aberration of logical thought was it "not the fault of the gator" and how do you glean that from the article as published?

Just because the elderly woman was found in the water does not mean that she had been in the water prior to the attack. Gators commonly come on land, grab their prey and take it into the water. That's why pet owners are cautioned to keep them away from waterside where gators are known to frequent.

Besides which, the 17 year old boy who lost an arm, mentioned in the same article was attacked while swimming. Do you suggest that there be no more swimming in the non-coastal waters of Florida? Was his loss also "not the fault of the gator?"

I guess we should also not swim in Florida's coastal waters since there are sharks in those waters.

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"Don't kill all the wildlife that takes advantage of the weak or the old?" ARE YOU KIDDING? There are 1.3 million alligators in the state of Florida. I would kill as many as it takes to keep humans safe. There is no place among us for nuisance alligators.

Besides which..........................they are tasty. :icon_hungry:

Not a rule.
 

The four foot length is not a rule, but a guideline.

From the state web site discussion of the nuisance alligator program: "Occasionally, alligators less than 4 feet in length are legitimate problems and must be addressed."

If an alligator has lost its fear of humans it is a nuisance no matter what its length.

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What is the researchable source of your allegation that in TV it is "the rule" to get rid of any gator regardless of nuisance?" It sounds more like opinion than rule.

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Disney
 

You are correct in your Bambi analysis. Except the movie was released in 1942, not in the 1950s.

And you are correct about the overpopulation and its negative effects. However, in defense of Walt Disney, in the 1930s the deer population of the United States had been reduced to about 300,000 due to commercial exploitation of deer. Laws were passed to stop commercial use of deer products and the current estimated deer population of the U.S. is 30 million. Perhaps it is time to lengthen the deer season and raise the bag limit.

One wonders why Disney's glorification of Mickey Mouse didn't result in a similar cry for protection of rodents. But, wait! Did it?

I recall the story of a man who was charged with killing a rat that was raiding his tomato patch. Man Faces Charges After Killing a Rat - NYTimes.com

The good news is that the charges were later dropped.

I wonder how many folks bemoaning the mistreatment of the gators own and love a cat. Cats are responsible for the deaths of 1.4 to 3.7 billion birds and 6.9 to 20.7 billion mammals every year, according to research conducted by the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A cat is, however, no match for a gator....well, except this one.

I was so entranced with the ad I could hardly go on to the main event.

I didn't get the benefit of an ad. I must not fit the demographic.

I have to admit if it wasn't for the occasional nuisance alligator I wouldn't get to enjoy fried tail with my bud light during football season.

Meow.
 

Don't get carried away by the out-of-focus video. It isn't a housecat, it is a Florida Panther. Big cats do attack gators.

They enjoy gator meat too.

Roaches also.

Wrong - cows, sheep, and pigs are farm animals raised to be human food. Alligators, for the most part, are not domesticated farm animals but wild animals trying to survive.

The local restaurants selling alligator meat do that mainly as a tourist thing.