[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by Dusty_Star

The retention ponds should be cleared. Leave the swamps alone. The CDDs will have to hire or allow hunters to harvest the gators from the retention ponds.

The harvest will have to be repeated from time to time. It will be an ongoing expense.

That's it. I never suggested any nonsense about preventing reentry or eradicating the horrific reptiles, just reduce the population to ensure resident safety.

The reptile involved in the disastrous hand attack was a little over 9 feet. It was also NOT in The Villages. My opinion is that it should have been turned into shoes a long time ago.

This is not a single issue. Check the history. We have had this argument for a while. There are those who say: Leave them alone, they were here first, & those who say: This is a retirement community made up of older folks who are no longer as spry, fast, observant, etc. as they once were. Make it as safe as reasonable.

It will not be solved by a discussion forum. Just decide which side you are on.

No retention ponds, no irrigation, can't drain them and wouldn't want to do so.

[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by Two Bills

Far too many posters offering solutions to a problem that basically, does not, has not, and will not exist in TV, if the minority just learn to live with their surroundings, and learn to use a bit of the old gray matter!

Amen to that.

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by Maker

If it was open for trappers to take them, there would be less. Perhaps only a few, Repeat as needed and overall it's safer.



Eating things like chicken, beef, pork, bacon, turkey, duck, ...





There are millions already there. There is no threat to the population by removing ones around residents homes.
In the entire area being under construction, there were no alligators there. No retention ponds either. Now that many have been built, alligators are there. Alligators were not first.



The topic is alligators. There are plenty of other ways people are killed. Drunk drivers, criminal gangs, etc. Please go solve those other issues in a thread about them, not in a thread about alligators.

There is no cost to us for this to happen. The alligator itself has value on the open market. Trappers would love to be allowed to come here at no cost to us.

The topic IS alligators. To get a fair measure of just what demons they are and the damage they do, one must must make comparisons. Comparisons against one of the most loved animals, like dogs helps put things in perspective. Weighing the small number of attacks (which makes them news worthy) against the vastly greater number of dog attacks (so common that the are not generally news worthy) should make one realize gators in TV pose an insignificant threat to us while providing the function of helping to control vermin and varments.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by fdpaq0580

What do you figure? 6 feet, more or less?

At least...

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston

Just for clarification.....TV at last count has 450 lakes and ponds? Correct me. You want the property, 35 square miles eradicated because of a single issue? Btw..should the developer assume the costs associated with said removal or don’t you think (playing along with this pie in the sky scenario) that they would throw another line item into your ‘fees’ to accomplish that fete....plus the costs for deploying TV border patrols to prevent reentry?!

Not to mention, that "single incident" didn't happen on TV property...

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Maker

There is no cost to us for this to happen. The alligator itself has value on the open market. Trappers would love to be allowed to come here at no cost to us.

[cjrjck]

Originally Posted by PugMom

some of us just don't feel good about killing things. where would you move them to? killing them just because they are there seems brutal & cruel. it can't be done.

You move them to any of the many marshes in central Florida. That is their natural environment not a man-made retention pond or somebody's backyard pool. I would prefer they be trapped. It's done all the time in the south. Many people make a living down here doing just that. But, if you needed one dead, that too is not a difficult thing to do. I would suggest a small boat and compound bow. Bow hunters safely dispatch hundreds of alligators every year. And most of those are actual wild alligators not the ones that grew up in small "neighborhood" ponds and have lost their innate fear of humans. I fish many of the ponds in TV and have seen numerous alligators that will come right up to you hoping for a handout. I assume by their actions that some people do feed them. Such alligators are potentially far more dangerous than their wild counterparts.

[LeRoySmith]

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston

I’ve had my say several times on this thread so let’s pivot for a second. In the decades that TV has been in existence, how many actual attacks have occurred in that period?

I bet there have been more people bites than gators bites

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by LeRoySmith

I bet there have been more people bites than gators bites

Probably correct. And people have such dirty mouths. One bite and you could die of septesemia aka cooties. Watch out humans. You are a far bigger threat to other life forms than they are to you. 😏😏😏

[Shipping up to Boston]

Originally Posted by fdpaq0580

Probably correct. And people have such dirty mouths. One bite and you could die of septesemia aka cooties. Watch out humans. You are a far bigger threat to other life forms than they are to you. 😏😏😏

Where can we relocate them

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by cjrjck

You move them to any of the many marshes in central Florida. That is their natural environment not a man-made retention pond or somebody's backyard pool. I would prefer they be trapped. It's done all the time in the south. Many people make a living down here doing just that. But, if you needed one dead, that too is not a difficult thing to do. I would suggest a small boat and compound bow. Bow hunters safely dispatch hundreds of alligators every year. And most of those are actual wild alligators not the ones that grew up in small "neighborhood" ponds and have lost their innate fear of humans. I fish many of the ponds in TV and have seen numerous alligators that will come right up to you hoping for a handout. I assume by their actions that some people do feed them. Such alligators are potentially far more dangerous than their wild counterparts.

Many people make a living doing all kinds of things, legal and illegal. Stupidity (like feeding wild animals) is a human trait. Not the animal's fault. Eradicate stupid people? More fair and more humane.

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston

Where can we relocate them

Relocate? Who said relocate? I have seen the word "eradicate" several times. Wonder if they would mind if the shoe was on the other foot? 🙄🤔🤔

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by fdpaq0580

Relocate? Who said relocate? I have seen the word "eradicate" several times. Wonder if they would mind if the shoe was on the other foot? 🙄🤔🤔

The Florida commission says the chances of a Florida resident being seriously injured in an unprovoked alligator attack are in one in 3.1 million. For reference, you have a better chance of getting attacked by a grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. Mazzoti said you're more than likely to drown in water than be attacked by an alligator.

[Caymus]

This alligator in New York was treated as a pet.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other...me/ar-BB1k3nwM

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by Ele201

Just curious, have you eaten gator? I’ve seen it on menus a bit in The Villages but never had it, not sure how it tastes.

Yes. I've eaten it. My opinion, "pretty good". I've also eaten a number of things that many would shudder at or be horrified by. Have you ever had frog legs or escargot (snails)? Good food.