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The Alligator Thread

Were there alligators in Florida before food started immigrating?

maximus otter
Sure. And crocodiles too. The problem is the retirement communities, obviously. Florida is great for animals, but all around bad for people, IMO.
 
Were there alligators in Florida before food started immigrating?

maximus otter
I saw a number when I was over there - they turn up in any body of water - the lake outside the count club I stayed at had three in the ornamental pond in front of reception. One was sat on a rock pretending to be an ornamental statue of an alligator. Luckily I wasn't fooled.

As water levels drop after the wet season (this finishes October/November), they take to their claws and look for somewhere to hole up - swimming pools, ponds that have never had an alligator in ever...
 
Putting gators on the endangered list way back when has proved to be way too successful.
Back in the 70s the wildlife agencies stocked gators in our North Alabama waters to control the beaver population, thinking our winters were too cold for them to reproduce. But they did, approx one out of every 3 winters proved warm enough for the eggs to survive. We aren’t over run like South Alabama but they are present in the Tennessee River system Enough to the point you have to be aware of thier presence.
As the planet continues to warm it’s no surprise they will continue to expand their range in the Upper South and even into the Rust Belt and Midwest eventually.
 
Avon calling!

Knock, knock. Who's there? Ouch. A man in Daytona Beach, Florida heard someone at his front door and thought it was a visitor for his son. Unfortunately when he opened the door to welcome the guest, it turned out to be a nearly 8-foot long alligator.

"The alligator lunged and he was bitten in the upper thigh," said Daytona Beach police spokesman Carrie McCallister.

While the man was taken to the hospital, Florida Fish and Wildlife officers called in a trapper who caught the gator and, sadly, euthanized it.

https://boingboing.net/2023/03/06/man-opens-front-door-only-to-be-bitten-by-huge-alligator.html
 
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/03/us/florida-alligator-toddler-taylen-mosley-lake-father/index.html

A Florida toddler found in an alligator’s mouth was put in the lake by his father, police say​


By Amy Simonson, CNN

The missing Florida toddler who was found dead in the mouth of an alligator last week was put in the lake by his father, who is also accused of killing the child’s mother, according to St. Petersburg police affidavits.

Thomas Mosley, 21, is facing two counts of first-degree murder, according to the affidavits.

“Due to the extremely serious allegations surrounding these tragic losses, our investigation is currently focused on gathering information about the facts and circumstances of the case, as well as our client’s mental state,” a spokesperson for Sixth Judicial Circuit Public Defender Sara Mollo said in a statement.

Mosley allegedly “did throw or place” his 2-year-old son, Taylen, into a lake, inflicting “mortal wounds” that caused the child’s death, according to one of the affidavits. Taylen had been reported missing after his mother, 20-year-old Pashun Jeffery, was found dead in her apartment Thursday afternoon with multiple stab wounds, police
previously said.

The night before Jeffery was found, Mosley allegedly went to his mother’s house with “severe lacerations to both of his hands and arms consistent with injuries caused by slippage during a knife attack” and was admitted to a hospital, according to an affidavit.

On Thursday, Jeffery’s family went to check on her and allegedly saw blood on the sidewalk from her apartment, the affidavit said. They found Jeffery inside dead with “apparent cuts and stabs in excess of 100 wounds,” according to an affidavit.

“A bloody fingerprint on a cleaning bottle which had been intentionally placed under a bed in the crime scene was identified to (Mosley),” the affidavit said. “A bloody shoe print with a ‘Gucci’ emblem was located on the bathroom floor where the victim was found,” the affidavit continues.

The 2 year old was not at the crime scene and authorities launched a search for the boy.

The following day, an alligator was spotted in Dell Homes Park just miles away from where Jeffery was found dead, with an object in its mouth, police said. Officers fired a single round at the reptile and it dropped the object.

Officers were able to retrieve what they discovered to be Taylen’s body, which was intact, according to police. The alligator was euthanized, an affidavit added.


Mosley was booked in the Pinellas County Jail on Friday, according to the website of the sheriff’s office. He is scheduled for a bond hearing on April 11.

CNN reached out to the Office of the State Attorney, who did not offer a comment.
 
See ya longer alligator.

A group of hunters have captured the longest alligator ever to be recorded in Mississippi, according to the US state’s department of wildlife, fisheries and parks.

Four men, Donald Woods, Will Thomas, Joey Clark and Tanner White, captured a male alligator on Saturday in west Mississippi’s Sunflower River.

It weighed 802.5lbs (364kgs) and measured 14ft 3ins (4.3 metres) long, breaking the previous record by more than two inches, the department said.

Mississippi Gator

The male alligator weighed 802.5lbs (Shane Smith/Red Antler Processing/AP)

After capturing the animal, the hunters hoisted it with a forklift and posed for a picture at Red Antler Processing in the Mississippi Delta town of Yazoo City.

The area is located in a designated alligator hunting zone. Mississippi’s alligator hunting season opens on the last Friday in August each year.

https://www.breakingnews.ie/world/l...ippi-history-captured-by-hunters-1521073.html
 
See ya longer alligator.

A group of hunters have captured the longest alligator ever to be recorded in Mississippi, according to the US state’s department of wildlife, fisheries and parks.

Four men, Donald Woods, Will Thomas, Joey Clark and Tanner White, captured a male alligator on Saturday in west Mississippi’s Sunflower River.

It weighed 802.5lbs (364kgs) and measured 14ft 3ins (4.3 metres) long, breaking the previous record by more than two inches, the department said.

Mississippi Gator

The male alligator weighed 802.5lbs (Shane Smith/Red Antler Processing/AP)

After capturing the animal, the hunters hoisted it with a forklift and posed for a picture at Red Antler Processing in the Mississippi Delta town of Yazoo City.

The area is located in a designated alligator hunting zone. Mississippi’s alligator hunting season opens on the last Friday in August each year.

https://www.breakingnews.ie/world/l...ippi-history-captured-by-hunters-1521073.html
Can they NOT use forced perspective in every reptile photo?!
 
Alligator pursues girl scouts but they were prepared.

Footage shot at a lake in Texas captures the moment a 14ft alligator spotted Girl Scouts in the water and realized that it was lunchtime.

The scouts, enjoying the lake as part of a camping trip, swim away and are plucked from the water. None were eaten; the "swimming area was closed" for the rest of the day.

"It was moving faster than us," one scout told KPRC 2 News out of Houston. The scouts have mixed feelings about swimming in the Hunstville-area lake again.

Scout tip: you don't have to be faster than the alligator, you have to be faster than the slowest scout.

https://boingboing.net/2023/09/14/w...couts-swimming-in-texas-lake-to-no-avail.html
 
Alligator pursues girl scouts but they were prepared.

Footage shot at a lake in Texas captures the moment a 14ft alligator spotted Girl Scouts in the water and realized that it was lunchtime.

The scouts, enjoying the lake as part of a camping trip, swim away and are plucked from the water. None were eaten; the "swimming area was closed" for the rest of the day.

"It was moving faster than us," one scout told KPRC 2 News out of Houston. The scouts have mixed feelings about swimming in the Hunstville-area lake again.

Scout tip: you don't have to be faster than the alligator, you have to be faster than the slowest scout.

https://boingboing.net/2023/09/14/w...couts-swimming-in-texas-lake-to-no-avail.html
So instead of the 'Boing-Boing' report, it could well have turned into a 'Gulp-Gulp' situation!
 
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Details emerge on fatal alligator attack that claimed 69-year-old Hilton Head woman's life​


HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (WCIV) — The details surrounding the surprise alligator attack that killed a 69-year-old Hilton Head woman in early July were released by the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office Thursday.

Around 9:27 a.m., on July 4, deputies were dispatched for what was being described as an animal incident, where, en route to the scene, they were told by Hilton Head Dispatch that Holly Jenkins was dead because of an alligator attack.

When deputies arrived on the scene, they met with the victim's husband, Justin Jenkins, and the victim's son, John Jenkins, where they described the events that led up to the alligator attack, according to BCSO.

https://wpde.com/news/local/details...ad-womans-life-animal-wildlife-alligator-news
 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66907425

First part of the story below. There is more.

A 13ft (4m) alligator has been killed after it was spotted in Florida with the remains of a woman in its jaws, police have said.
A witness told local media he saw the alligator in a Largo canal clutching a lower torso in its mouth.
Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said the animal was killed and confirmed the remains of 41-year-old Sabrina Peckham were found in the waterway.
An investigation will determine the circumstances behind the woman's death.
Police said deputies were called at 13:50 local time on Friday after a report of a body in the waterway.
Jamarcus Bullard said he was on walking to a job interview when he spotted the alligator with what initially looked like a mannequin in its mouth.
"I noticed it had a body in its mouth - like a lower torso - so once I saw that I ran straight to the fire department," he told local broadcaster Fox 13.
"It was my first time seeing a gator in real life so I was like it's pretty cool, but once I saw what it had I was like 'is that like a mannequin?'
"It was pale and white."
"It was just clamped onto it, and swam backwards to the bottom of the canal... I just couldn't believe it was real," he said in another interview with 10 Tampa Bay.
A fundraising page has reportedly been set up for Ms Peckham by her family, who said the woman was living in a homeless camp near a wooded area at the time of her death.
Breauna Dorris, who said she was the victim's daughter, wrote on Facebook: "It is believed that she may have been walking to or from her camp site near the creek in the dark and the alligator attacked from the water.
"No one deserves to die like this."
Authorities said the alligator was humanely killed

My comment:
A sad story for the woman and her family, but a wild predator in its natural habitat doesn't deserve to die for predating.
 
Forbidden Frozen Alligator Popsicles Seen In North Carolina And Texas – But Don't Lick Them

Alligators might not be the first creatures that come to mind when thinking about survival tactics for cold weather, but videos reveal that freezing right along with the lake is the best way for them to get through a cold snap.

In Texas and North Carolina, videos are emerging on social media of “gatorcicles”. Found in frozen bodies of water, these are alligators that have let the water freeze solidly around them. Only their noses and mouths poke out of the surface of the ice, allowing the animals to breathe.

gator-ice-m.png


This is a process called brumation, a period of dormancy where the heart rate and other processes within the body slow down in response to cold weather. In alligators and other reptiles, it consists of a decreased body temperature, lethargy and decreased metabolism.

As these animals are cold-blooded and require warmth from the sun for their metabolism, if the temperatures get too cold, they can die. However, this period of brumation typically lasts 4-5 months in response to cold weather. It's similar to hibernation as the animals go without eating, but it is distinct in that they will continue to drink and are not in quite as deep of a sleep state.

https://www.iflscience.com/forbidde...h-carolina-and-texas-but-dont-lick-them-72610

maximus otter
 
Forbidden Frozen Alligator Popsicles Seen In North Carolina And Texas – But Don't Lick Them

Alligators might not be the first creatures that come to mind when thinking about survival tactics for cold weather, but videos reveal that freezing right along with the lake is the best way for them to get through a cold snap.

In Texas and North Carolina, videos are emerging on social media of “gatorcicles”. Found in frozen bodies of water, these are alligators that have let the water freeze solidly around them. Only their noses and mouths poke out of the surface of the ice, allowing the animals to breathe.

gator-ice-m.png


This is a process called brumation, a period of dormancy where the heart rate and other processes within the body slow down in response to cold weather. In alligators and other reptiles, it consists of a decreased body temperature, lethargy and decreased metabolism.

As these animals are cold-blooded and require warmth from the sun for their metabolism, if the temperatures get too cold, they can die. However, this period of brumation typically lasts 4-5 months in response to cold weather. It's similar to hibernation as the animals go without eating, but it is distinct in that they will continue to drink and are not in quite as deep of a sleep state.

https://www.iflscience.com/forbidde...h-carolina-and-texas-but-dont-lick-them-72610

maximus otter
Survival at it's greatest. . . pretty amazing!
(My Tortoise does much the same - without freezing though!) :)
 
This must've been a shock.

Florida woman’s family sues retirement home after an 11ft-alligator killed her

The family of an elderly woman killed by an alligator as she walked her dog near her Florida home is suing the retirement community where she lived for wrongful death.
Gloria Serge, 85, died in February 2023 after the 11ft alligator, known to residents as Henry, sprang from a retention pond at Spanish Lakes Fairways in Fort Pierce and dragged her back into the water.
 
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