[RWhitburn]

Please don’t announce the location of gators. Then people want to go see them, then they bring the grandchildren, then FWC is called, and then Brad is gone...

[b0bd0herty]

Originally Posted by sail33or

I actually know something about alligators.


Even a 4 ft gator will grab a cat or small dog so fast you can't stop it. So do not walk them around ponds.

Unless you want to ensure it remains fed.

[Cranford61]

Originally Posted by vintageogauge

They will travel through the storm drain system also through the yards. He/she will find their way to food, keep your cats inside as they do tend to disappear.

Cats shouldn’t be outside. Nationwide it is estimated that they kill 3 billion songbirds a year...for sport. I love songbirds. Go gators!

[Larchap49]

Originally Posted by dhdallas

I worry that Brad, our local alligator living in Bradford, has enough habitat to support him. He (or she as I never got close enough to look) lives in a small pond east of Dray Drive. I read that a female alligator can normally roam about in 10 acres of habitat and a male will roam about even more.

Brad (or Bradley if we are being formal) is prevented from venturing into the Nature Preserve just east of the pond because it is fenced off. He is hemmed in on the other sides by the homes.

According to the FWC an average size adult alligator eats every 5-6 days and requires 6-8 pounds of food - fish, birds, small dogs, etc. and will venture as far as 170 feet from the water to get food.

My question is, will this pond area support his needs or does he need to be relocated? I am a Yankee and a brand new snowbird so pardon my ignorance if I am concerned over nothing.

If residents start feeding him he will quickly lose his fear of humans and if he is more than 4 feet he won't be relocated he will be killed. That is how the trappers are paid.

[tonycirocco@me.com]

Gators CAN climb fences.

Give Brad space, don't go too close, and KEEP YOUR DOG (if you have one) on a leash.

Welcome to FL, gator land.

Tony

Originally Posted by dhdallas

I worry that Brad, our local alligator living in Bradford, has enough habitat to support him. He (or she as I never got close enough to look) lives in a small pond east of Dray Drive. I read that a female alligator can normally roam about in 10 acres of habitat and a male will roam about even more.

Brad (or Bradley if we are being formal) is prevented from venturing into the Nature Preserve just east of the pond because it is fenced off. He is hemmed in on the other sides by the homes.

According to the FWC an average size adult alligator eats every 5-6 days and requires 6-8 pounds of food - fish, birds, small dogs, etc. and will venture as far as 170 feet from the water to get food.

My question is, will this pond area support his needs or does he need to be relocated? I am a Yankee and a brand new snowbird so pardon my ignorance if I am concerned over nothing.

[airstreamingypsy]

Originally Posted by Cranford61

Cats shouldn’t be outside. Nationwide it is estimated that they kill 3 billion songbirds a year...for sport. I love songbirds. Go gators!

People who love their cats don't let them outside.

[Rlheinz19@yahoo.com]

Originally Posted by airstreamingypsy

People who love their cats don't let them outside.

Please don't tell my husband. We are moving down in a couple of months and he would like to get rid of the cats.

[JohnN]

Alligators are faster than people over short distances, so stay clear.

[Jerry Leinsing]

Fencing doesn’t stop them. I personally saw one climb a wooden fence near east end of Hillsborough Trail. Go to web and search on alligator climbing a chainlink fence. So easy.

[bilcon]

I think Brad the Alligator can survive very well without your intervention. If you want to give him a treat, you may venture to the edge of the pond.

[Mfrench]

Originally Posted by karostay

100% worst thing you can do draw attention to animal
remember Larry

Please don’t identify the location of alligators! The powers to be have no respect for nature and the local gators and end up destroying them, like Larry that was a local celebrity and enjoyed by all!! He was removed after a stupid resident said he was a danger and too tame!! She caused him to be roughly taken from his years long habitat for no reason at all!! That resident should have been removed from the Villages herself !!! The Villages said he was relocated at an allegation sanctuary! You want to bet?!! No one believes that for alligator hide is valuable. How stupid do they think we are!! So many children who enjoyed visiting him. As well as adults, we’re were terribly upset! Specialists admit that capture methods injure and often kill the alligators, so removing him in the dead if night was a devious way for the Villages to avoid a harsh protest! They have proven, over and over, that they have no respect for the wishes of the Villagers. A vote should have been taken from the residents before taking such divisive action. SO, do not report the location of alligators, which will surely cause their demise and that of our beautiful Florida ambiance which is part of why we enjoy living here.

[dhdallas]

Originally Posted by RWhitburn

Please don’t announce the location of gators. Then people want to go see them, then they bring the grandchildren, then FWC is called, and then Brad is gone...

I feel awful now. I hope I am not the cause of his demise. In the future I will never call attention to an animal again. Lesson learned and hoping the alligator doesn't pay fot it.

[Bellavita]

Gators don't eat much in the winter and if he or she gets hungry they will move. They move all the time, pond to pond food mates who knows. But be sure , if there is a body of water ..there is a gator in it.

[1948JDG]

I can always use an alligator wallet and shoes.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by karostay

100% worst thing you can do draw attention to animal
remember Larry

RIP Larry.