[3105boy]

My apologies to the naturalists, but allowing any animals who can kill humans in close proximity is wrong. Alligators are certainly not endangered. Thus, they should be treated like fish. Allow licensed hunters to harvest all in neighborhood ponds over a set size. Feed the poor with the catch. Hunting will make alligators fear humans and we will all be safer.
Photo of my front door…glad the lights were on!

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by sloanst

The Villages will bring in trappers if an alligator is too larger. I don't know how they would measure that, but they have removed gators from Mangrove that were especially huge. Also, if they find that some IDIOT is feeding the alligators, they will remove them.

Unfortunately, you mean they will remove the alligator and not the IDIOT.

[paminix]

Originally Posted by RICH1

another case of REPTILE-DISFUNCTION in The Villages

So funny!!!

[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by RICH1

another case of REPTILE-DISFUNCTION in The Villages

Now that is a hard thing to say….

Like so many other topics that get discussed here, the preconceived notions come to the fore. If one is comparing dangerous critter to dangerous critter, then the most dangerous critter on the planet happens to not be allligators at all, or even reptiles in general, but—MOSQUITOES!

It is common preconception though. I still get comments from people up north about the dangers of living in Florida, the top two being (in their minds anyway) the killer heat and deadly reptiles. But neither one is a danger if you use a little common sense. As tragic as the death of this woman was, the fact of the matter was that she was trying to rescue her dog from the alligator! Her mistake, and it turned out to be a deadly one, was that as I understand it her and her dog got too close to the water.

All that is needed is a little common sense. Don’t allow Rover to get too close to the water. Dogs are on the menu, people aren’t. Don’t look for your ball if you hit it into the weeds adjacent to a shoreline. Obey the signs that say don’t feed the alligators. Don’t go for romantic moonlight walks along any large(r) pond or body of water, especially not with Rover tagging along. Don’t get too close to that basking alligator so you can get the perfect picture (unless of course your idea of a “perfect picture” is a close-up of teeth). Use your head. Give the gators their space. Both species will be far happier.

[Dantes]

They were here before us
I do believe the world would be a better place without animals so let’s get rid of them all and have a big barbecue lol

[Dantes]

My opinion move north if you moved to Florida and didn’t do your homework about the wildlife maybe reconsider moving just my humble opinion

[Ipecoraro]

People learn to be smart! Stay away from walking by the ponds. Ponds are there for beauty and not to walk along especially with a small dog.
Look what happened to our Buffalo. Someone stupidly reached over the fence to feed them and was bitten. All the buffalo were removed because of this stupid action. We loved watching the Buffalo.
People smarten up!!!

[airstreamingypsy]

Originally Posted by Byte1

I would think that even one attack would be too much.

Oh please, if a dog attacks should we remove all dogs? All raccoons? Snakes? All everything? The woman did a stupid thing when she walked her little dog next to a pond. Period. How she could live as long as she did and not know that you don't walk dogs next to ponds is beyond me. Killing all the gators was a stunt to make people feel good, there will be plenty more where they came from.

[Lindaws]

Correct.

[MrFlorida]

Gators are a part of Florida, get with it or move.

[ahill99]

I don't believe this attack was in the Villages.

[cjrjck]

I grew up in alligator territory. For the most part they are just a part of nature to be be observed and enjoyed, but also respected. One thing that was not tolerated normally was an alligator in a neighborhood pond or community recreation center. At some point, they become a risk to pets and children. In those situations, the alligator was relocated. The Villages has far too many neighborhood alligators. Perhaps because there are few children and not an abundance of pets, the risk associated with these neighborhood alligators is considered mitigated. As someone who has been around alligators most of my life, I can tell you that many of these local neighborhood alligators in TV have little or no fear of humans. I fish in my kayak in some of the backwaters not far from here and those alligators are far different. Young ones are always curious, but the older ones don't want anything to do with you and as you approach them, they will normally fade under and away.

[TrapX]

Alligators were NOT here first. Maybe in Florida, but NOT HERE.
Look at any older satellite image where there were huge open fields before TV was built. No ponds. No alligators.
Then TV was built. Houses, roads, rec centers... and new ponds. Then the alligators moved in.
Alligators invaded our neighborhoods, not the other way around.
One would think the developer hates the bad publicity of allowing alligators to remain here to kill people. It costs him money in lost sales. A lawyer might even win a lawsuit based upon allowing a situation to exist that's known to be dangerous to humans, where they're likely to be harmed by failing to remove the alligators. That's big money.
If it's ok to remove one, than it's ok to remove all of them. Trappers can take every one they find. That can't happen soon enough.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by TrapX

Alligators were NOT here first. Maybe in Florida, but NOT HERE.
Look at any older satellite image where there were huge open fields before TV was built. No ponds. No alligators.
Then TV was built. Houses, roads, rec centers... and new ponds. Then the alligators moved in.
Alligators invaded our neighborhoods, not the other way around.
One would think the developer hates the bad publicity of allowing alligators to remain here to kill people. It costs him money in lost sales.
...

Good suggestion to look at the old maps. No, there was no pond 3/4 of the way down Pinellas Ave. Of course, that is because there was no Pinellas Ave. What there was instead was a lot of open, marshy land which was likely inhabited by alligators. The water was here, the alligators were here, the Villages and the people are the newcomers.

Good point about the alligators and marketing. I know every visitor I have had has asked to go out to see alligators. I enjoy seeing the alligators. They might actually be a selling point.

Far more deaths by golf carts - perhaps we should eradicate those. Far more complaints about dogs - perhaps we should ban them.

[spinner1001]

Originally Posted by TrapX

Alligators were NOT here first. Maybe in Florida, but NOT HERE.

No.

Alligators have been around here for a very long time. Scientists have been counting them in larger lakes around here for decades. Alligators certainly travel from larger lakes to smaller lakes and natural wetlands.

Authorities Mystified Over Fatal Attack | AP News

https://usgs-cru-individual-data.s3....eys%20FR-1.pdf