Steph, I imagine you can google them to get an image, but my advice is if you are walking your dog and see a toad (they are even in the middle of the street in the evening), just steer your dog clear.

I used to walk our dog after dark due to the heat, and he would see the toad in the road first and go into check-it-out mode, which was my clue to shorten the leash.

Who?
 

Check this out......Bufo marinus - Giant Toad, Cane Toad, Marine Toad

We had them by the hundreds in S. Florida. My brother's Doberman got ahold of one and nearly died. A small dog would have.
I used to leave my house in the morning before daylight heading to work and try to see how many I could run over in my neighborhood.

Not the reply I expected, but the right thing to do IMHO.

Peaceful habitat? Isn't it funny how we look out over a swamp and think about how peaceful it is. It may look that way from afar. It may be for us who are in no danger, but wild habitats are anything but peaceful. Animals die every day from being eaten alive by other animals. Nature is anything but peaceful and safe. It is violent and dangerous. Most animals are constantly on the lookout for other animals that want them for lunch.
Alligators are close to the top of the food chain around here except that large birds and snakes eat the babies. Think that's so peaceful? You're a mommy alligator looking after your brood and suddenly a large egret sweeps down and peacefully snatches up one of your young'uns. The sweet baby alligator is then bitten and chewed for several minutes until it's dead.
Then again, alligators do this to all sorts of other animals all the time. And if you're not careful and allow them to remain in places where people live they will do it to you dog, cat or even a small child. This happens several times a year in the state of Florida and I would guess that it happens anywhere that people live near alligators.
As the article by FSW states, if a gator is relocated it will probably either be killed or kill another gator. Isn't it much more humane to put a bullet in their brain and end their life without pain?
The only other alternative that I can think of would be not live in close proximity of alligators. If you believe that is the way to go then you'd be in favor of destroying the entire Villages and every other development in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas and many in Georgia and the Carolinas.
The fact is that if we humans are going to live anywhere, we are going to disrupt the habitats of animals. There is no living in peace and harmony with nature. Like I said, nature is cruel and violent. It is kill or be killed.

Reaching an agreement.
 

If there is no control there is a great likelihood that the area will become overrun with alligators.

Can the "leave them alone" supporters come up with a number of gators-per-yard beyond which we can all agree that some gators must be removed?

What might that number be?

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There's nothing like "The ultimate of surprise". Especially when you walk out at night!

And if we leave them alone, are we guaranteed that they will leave us alone? Alligators are instinctive creatures. They don't so much think as they simple act on urged. Their miniscule brain basically just keeps their bodily functions going they have no sense of right or wrong or pain or pleasure. They just kill and eat things without knowing why.
In all they are not much different than an insect. They are certainly less intelligent and sentient than a fish.

:a20::a20: Hopefully all of them!

Wonder if you'd feel the same if it was in your neighborhood? I walk my little Napoleon on triggerfish and frankly, I'm glad they got rid of it. And what if my little granddaughter was with me? Wild life is fine, but not on my street thank you very much.

Eating machines.
 

They are very much like sharks as described by Hooper in Jaws: "What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks, and that's all."



.

Okay, but we don't go around hunting down and killing every shark that shows up in waters where we swim. it's definitely their "surf," so to speak.

I vote for leaving the alligators alone when they wander unless they are directly menacing the residents. It can't hurt to wait a few hours to see if it leaves the area.

It's OUR turf.
 

You fail to acknowledge what we DO when there are sharks in the water. --- WE GET OUT. That's not an acceptable option where we live. We are a geographically large area. Just because a gator moves out of your sight that doesn't mean he's "left the area."

If it weren't for the trappers work, how many hundreds of gators might be in The Villages right now?

I'll pose my question again: How many gators per block would we have to be infested with to reach a number to get you to agree to start removing them?

—------------

I like your play on words, using surf where we would ordinarily say turf.

:clap2:



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Carl, I give up! We'll have to agree to disagree. I can't answer the question as to how many gators would be here without trappers. I think that since there is now a hunting season on gators, the cull might keep the numbers down. My heart says that there aren't enough of them wandering around menacing neighbors in TV to immediately call someone to have one in my yard be removed without first waiting overnight to see if it moved. I'm sure the next person down the line would make the call, and that makes me sad.

When was the last time a person in TV was attacked by a gator? Again, questions for which I have no facts, so I just go with my gut feeling. You as a law officer probably have a much different view on things than I.

Although if I see a shark in the water, watch how fast I can swim.

Regards.

Did anyone check the guys yard for gator poop.
I would hate for some poor dog to get the blame for it.