[Daxdog]

Originally Posted by Byte1

I don't care whether or not gators were here before humans. If they are dangerous, they should be removed. I don't care if they eat them, make luggage out of them or whatever as long as they take them out of populated areas. I like trees but I am not a tree hugger. If a tree needs to be taken down in order to make a home, so be it. Someone mentioned birds of prey snatching up domestic cats that are allowed to roam. Sorry, but pet cats should stay in the home or be supervised by it's owner like a dog. No, I would not bother with birds of prey unless they became dangerous to humans. I don't want bears roaming the Villages, just because they were here first. I do not care who or what was here first. If I purchase a home, I don't want wildlife endangering my family or friends, period. And I have no intention of moving some place else "if I don't like it." I love wildlife and I love trees and landscapes, but if I want to build a home on my property anywhere, it doesn't matter what was there first.
The gator goes, not granny.

How do think they can be removed? How do you keep them from coming back?

[Maker]

Originally Posted by Normal

There have been ZERO Gator deaths in the Villages to date. They must be doing something right!

Somebody missed the news about the granny getting killed by an alligator. Previous incidents of near misses were warning signs of serious problems coming. It was just a matter of time. And that time is here.

One preventable death is too many.

Insanity is doing the same things and expecting a different result. It's time to do something different so we avoid another unnecessary death.
Get rid of every alligator now. There are plenty elsewhere. Sad that action wasn't taken already, and someone would still be alive.

This is a community of humans, not a zoo. Alligators are a real danger to all of us. Removing them would make this a safer place to live and enjoy. Leaving them here will only lead to another death.

I dare everyone who says "leave them here" to go the the person's funeral, and look their family in their eyes and tell them how alligators are more important than human life. More important than their loved one. Stand there and watch the family cry. Feel their grief. Then tell them how she should have known better. See how that goes.

[Djean1981]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

*Maybe* it was necessary to remove the one alligator who *might* now see humans as food but it certainly wasn't necessary to remove them all. (Note that they removed alligators from the entire community; there were not four alligators in one pond). The needless removal, and likely destruction, of a native animal behaving naturally is sad. I really hate the idea but maybe it is necessary to put fences around all the ponds to keep the foolish people away.

We enjoy looking for alligators in the ponds here.

Things to learn:
- There are alligators in the fresh water in Florida
- Walking your small dog at the edge of the water is dangerous
- Standing and watching an alligator swim across the pond towards you and your dog is a really bad idea

Maybe they weren't absolutely certain which one had developed a taste for humans.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Maker

Somebody missed the news about the granny getting killed by an alligator. Previous incidents of near misses were warning signs of serious problems coming. It was just a matter of time. And that time is here.

One preventable death is too many.

Insanity is doing the same things and expecting a different result. It's time to do something different so we avoid another unnecessary death.
Get rid of every alligator now. There are plenty elsewhere. Sad that action wasn't taken already, and someone would still be alive.

This is a community of humans, not a zoo. Alligators are a real danger to all of us. Removing them would make this a safer place to live and enjoy. Leaving them here will only lead to another death.

I dare everyone who says "leave them here" to go the the person's funeral, and look their family in their eyes and tell them how alligators are more important than human life. More important than their loved one. Stand there and watch the family cry. Feel their grief. Then tell them how she should have known better. See how that goes.

I missed the news about granny being killed in the Villages. Care to share a link??

If granny stands on the train tracks and gets hit do we blame the trains? If granny steps into traffic and gets hit do we blame the cars? If granny stands at the water’s edge and watches an alligator swim towards her do we blame the alligator? Choices and actions have consequences.

[meme5x]

Originally Posted by Battlebasset

I have a retention pond behind my house. It was the feature that sold me on my place - open space behind us and water. There is a three foot retention wall with a roughly 3 foot+ vertical bar fence on top of it. So no real worries about a gator getting into my back yard.

All that said - I never put my small dog in the backyard without me there. She could easily squeeze between the lateral bars. And I never go into the pond area. We saw a gator the first month we were here, and we almost see one daily now. It's fun to watch them lay around on the bank, and when the water is low, there is a sandbar near the drainage pipe he/she likes to lay on. It's almost like he is on top of the water. Our guests love it. The most I had in NJ were stupid deer that destroyed my landscaping and made my yard look like cow pasture.

Stay away from the ponds, use common sense, and you won't have a problem.

I agree.. don’t live by one but enjoy watching wildlife on way to postal station

[Maker]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

I missed the news about granny being killed in the Villages. Care to share a link??

If granny stands on the train tracks and gets hit do we blame the trains? If granny steps into traffic and gets hit do we blame the cars? If granny stands at the water’s edge and watches an alligator swim towards her do we blame the alligator? Choices and actions have consequences.

Safety experts say "All accidents are preventable."
The choice and action to remove every alligator will prevent another accidental death. Human life outweighs everything. I support that choice 100%.
Who do I blame for a human life being killed by an alligator? I blame the people who refused to mitigate the problem, and allowed it to be a problem.

You're welcome to find a solution to the other off-topic problems you highlighted. They are not relevant to solving the issue of alligators killing people near the villages man-made ponds.

Just curious - why do you value an alligator's life over an human life?

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Maker

Safety experts say "All accidents are preventable."
The choice and action to remove every alligator will prevent another accidental death. Human life outweighs everything. I support that choice 100%.
Who do I blame for a human life being killed by an alligator? I blame the people who refused to mitigate the problem, and allowed it to be a problem.

You're welcome to find a solution to the other off-topic problems you highlighted. They are not relevant to solving the issue of alligators killing people near the villages man-made ponds.

Just curious - why do you value an alligator's life over an human life?

The solution to the alligator "problem" is the same as the solution to the other, off-topic problems: Don't put yourself in an obviously dangerous situation. Don't stand on the tracks while a train is approaching is more than just grammatically the same as don't stand on the shoreline while an alligator is approaching.

Just curious - why do you think that disguising an accusation as a question makes a good argument?

In answer to your accusation, I don't value an alligator's life over an human life. If I was there at the time and had a weapon with me there is no question which of the two I would have used the weapon on.

But that isn't the situation now, it isn't an alligator life vs. human life situation. The question now is whether alligators in their natural habitat can coexist with humans? Do we need to kill all the alligators to make humans safe? Over the last 75 years there has been fewer than one death by alligator every three years. Of all the things out there that can kill us, alligators seem to be relatively safe. When you consider the circumstances behind many of those deaths (wading in to retrieve a disc or golf ball, standing on the shore watching the alligator approach) it seems the humans took the action to put themselves in danger - were it not for clearly poor choices the humans made, they would not have been killed.

If an animal is threatening a human then the animal should lose. If a human puts themselves into a dangerous situation then it's hard to blame the animal. Killing animals to make it impossible for humans to make bad choices is just wrong.

An alligator kills a human about once every three years. By contrast, dogs kill between 30 and 40 humans EACH AND EVERY YEAR! If you want to protect humans from animals then alligators are the wrong focus. When you argue to eradicate dogs as strongly as you argue to kill alligators THEN I will respect your position.

[MrFlorida]

I have friends that live up north, that moved from the city to a rural area, then started complaining about the Bears, they wanted them all removed..... If you are afraid of gators, you can always move to an area that doesn't have gators.... How about California ? You will have plenty to complain about there....

[fdpaq0580]

I find it interesting, but not surprising, just how many people think the only answer is to eradicate whatever they don't like, fear or are unable to appreciate.

[Dusty_Star]

Originally Posted by Maker

Somebody missed the news about the granny getting killed by an alligator. Previous incidents of near misses were warning signs of serious problems coming. It was just a matter of time. And that time is here.

One preventable death is too many.

Insanity is doing the same things and expecting a different result. It's time to do something different so we avoid another unnecessary death.
Get rid of every alligator now. There are plenty elsewhere. Sad that action wasn't taken already, and someone would still be alive.

This is a community of humans, not a zoo. Alligators are a real danger to all of us. Removing them would make this a safer place to live and enjoy. Leaving them here will only lead to another death.

I dare everyone who says "leave them here" to go the the person's funeral, and look their family in their eyes and tell them how alligators are more important than human life. More important than their loved one. Stand there and watch the family cry. Feel their grief. Then tell them how she should have known better. See how that goes.

I agree with your take on this issue. I think that the rules regarding the preservation of the alligators dates to the 1970s when they were in need of protection. Since that time they have multiplied enormously. It is 50 years later & the situation has changed. The rules need to be updated to reflect changing realities. Allow hunting. Actively remove alligators from residential communities - especially communities of seniors many of whom might develop issues - vision issues of seeing the danger, mobility issues of being able to get out of the way of danger, cognitive issues of recognizing hazardous situations.
Leaving outdated rules in place is just laziness & is inviting tragedies.

[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by fdpaq0580

I find it interesting, but not surprising, just how many people think the only answer is to eradicate whatever they don't like, fear or are unable to appreciate.

Maybe not surprising, but definitely disappointing. You can’t blame a critter for being what it is. Alligators are perfectly happy being left alone in or near their watery habitats. It is the stupidity of people that is the danger, not the habits of the alligators.

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by GizmoWhiskers

Yeah. One day someone on Red Fox or Gray Fox golf courses may be lunch or dinner to one. They are every where out there.

For our non-floridian transplants... those are NOT bullfrogs croaking in the bushes. Alligators sound like bull frogs. They can travel 20 plus miles during mating season. They can eat kids, dogs and adults. They are not cute fur babies.

I would like to see all the gators here relocated. This is now a residential community. Sorry for the gators that were here first but......survival of the fittest. Humans rule.

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by Byte1

I don't care whether or not gators were here before humans. If they are dangerous, they should be removed. I don't care if they eat them, make luggage out of them or whatever as long as they take them out of populated areas. I like trees but I am not a tree hugger. If a tree needs to be taken down in order to make a home, so be it. Someone mentioned birds of prey snatching up domestic cats that are allowed to roam. Sorry, but pet cats should stay in the home or be supervised by it's owner like a dog. No, I would not bother with birds of prey unless they became dangerous to humans. I don't want bears roaming the Villages, just because they were here first. I do not care who or what was here first. If I purchase a home, I don't want wildlife endangering my family or friends, period. And I have no intention of moving some place else "if I don't like it." I love wildlife and I love trees and landscapes, but if I want to build a home on my property anywhere, it doesn't matter what was there first.
The gator goes, not granny.

Survival of the fittest. Humans are the fittest. Relocate the gators.I wish these prehistoric reptiles became extinct like their ancestors long ago. Then we would not have to worry about these predators.

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

Cars are more dangerous to humans than alligators so by your logic, cars go.
Alcohol is more dangerous to humans than alligators so by your logic, alcohol goes.
Dogs are more dangerous to humans than alligators so by your logic, dogs go.
Bicycles, golf carts, peanuts ...

OR, humans wise up and don't do stupid things and then they all can stay.

Your analogies are just silly.

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by Normal

There have been ZERO Gator deaths in the Villages to date. They must be doing something right!

That is just being lucky. This is an accident waiting to happen here.