Thursday, April 25, 2019

Herps in the News: A fence-busting 600lb gator pays a visit to a Miami Neighborhood

On the night of April 19th 2019 in a neighborhood in Miami Florida a 600 pound 11 foot alligator crawled into the driveway of a local resident. Miami fire rescue were the first to respond in which they attempted to corral the alligator away from the nearby road so it wouldn’t be struck by passing cars. Soon after Miami Police and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were called to the scene. In effort to escape the crowd of responders, the gator broke through a chain-link fence into the resident’s backyard. Once the Miami police and Fish and Wildlife trapper arrived they were able to tie and secure the alligator with rope. Unfortunately, because this alligator was “slippery” from rain, the trapper was unable to get a hold on the alligator. Because of this and the fact that it had wandered into a populated neighborhood, the wildlife trapper made the decision to euthanize the alligator.

This tragic end for such an impressive animal happens all too often. Alligators are forced to adjust their lifestyle due to developmental pressures in order to survive. It is inevitable that residents will encounter displaced wildlife, but because alligators are viewed as monsters they are killed to ensure the safety of residents and their domestic pets. This article stood out to me for two reasons, it highlights what impacts developments can have on wild animals and demonstrates the fear associated with large reptiles. Yes, a 600lb 11ft alligator would be terrifying to come across but I do not think that this animal should’ve been euthanized. I think it is important in areas of increased development to have sanctuaries or substantial habitat for them to reside in the surrounding areas to decrease the likelihood of them migrating to populated areas and as a result avoid being euthanized out of fear.




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was thoroughly enjoying your recap of the situation in the first paragraph. I was audibly laughing out loud as I envisioned the hijinx that you were describing (sorry for waking you up, roommate...) until the plot twist of the professional, local alligator wrangler deciding to euthanize the alligator. My attitude towards the situation turned on a dime. In terms of the situation, that is terrible, but in terms of your story crafting, it was truly well set up.
You are right in saying that this sort of thing happens all too often. Just the other day, I was listening to a podcast that mentioned that a mayor of a town in Texas killed an alligator with her shotgun because she was convinced that it was the cause of the disappearance of her beloved miniature pony years before.

Allison Welch said...

Great write-up - thank you for sharing this story. I'm disappointed by the decision to euthanize and also that the original story ended so abruptly at that point - it would have been nice for the original author to include some information about safety around gators, what to do if one is found in an inhabited area, etc. Thank you for filling in that missing information for us.