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:
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.
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.
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