Comments on: Gator Roundup – Summer 2006

By: spotshouse

spotshouse — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 17:05:11 +0000

An alligator was found in Stockton Lake Missouri at only about a foot long. It is now in the collection at Dickerson Park Zoo, Springfield MO

By: Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:11:23 +0000

The New York story is from October 2003, but it resurfaced because the guy was in court last week. A New York federal judge dismissed Antoine Yates’ lawsuit filed against police. It claimed they stole from him while sedating a tiger he kept in his apartment. He said the police stole cash and jewelry from him and violated his constitutional rights in October 2003, when they entered his apartment and seized Ming, a nearly 3-year-old tiger. They also found a 6-foot alligator in his apartment. Yates spent three and a half months in jail after he was found guilty of reckless endangerment.

By: skunkape_hunter

skunkape_hunter — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:02:31 +0000

I am not too impressed with some of these. Now the ones over in Arizona are a bit strange. The ones in Texas, and Tennessee do not seem too strange. The one in Mass. is one for the books.

Having lived and fished and hunted here in Fla. I can tell you first hand that it is not uncommon to catch gators while fishing. In some lakes you can not fish at all after dark! The things steal your bait, cut your line, scare off the bass!

There was a story out of New York last week about a man that had a tiger in his apartment. When the law went to catch it they found a 5 or 6 foot gator in the tub! So the idea that this is being caused by some morons that have no outlook on life beyond tomorrow is probably accurate!

By: cor2879

cor2879 — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 11:47:31 +0000

It’s no surprise to me that gators are being found in NC. They are quite common these days in SC and they have been moving up into the eastern part of NC in recent years, as the map Loren posted seems to illustrate as well.

By: shumway10973

shumway10973 — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 15:58:55 +0000

once again man is surprised that an animal might actually survive outside the area we have known them to live in, within the last 300 or less years. Our knowledge of these beautiful animals is minimal at best. They are predatory, which means that other than being cold blooded, they literally could go anywhere they wanted to find food. Every state has some river running thru, therefore it is possible that alligators could live anywhere, except for maybe up the colorado river without human intervention.

By: buzzworm55

buzzworm55 — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 13:53:53 +0000

In the late 60’s, gators faced near-extinction here in FL mainly due to the skin trade, now it’s not uncommon to census hundreds in a single body of water; heck, Payne’s Prairie SP south of Gainesville boasts a population in the thousands, with some bull males clearing 13 ft. in length. Pretty impressive recovery. It’s illegal here to mess with “el lagarto” in any way, but that doesn’t stop some folks from acquiring one, taking it somewhere else then releasing it when it gets too scary and they can’t deal with the feeding response. That happens with pythons and boas here too. Gators are pretty hardy creatures and they can tolerate temps at or below freezing for short periods of time. Also, caiman are still legal and common in the trade, and released individuals account for a significant percentage of gator sightings here and elsewhere in the US.

By: WVBotanist

WVBotanist — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 04:32:20 +0000

More evidence of global warming? Just kidding, but it is amazing to see how far out of the ‘accepted’ range these things are found. Could be a normal result of habitat loss and multidecadal climate cycle; we have not been tracking those sorts of these nearly as long as the experts’ conclusions might imply.

Its intriguing to think that people may have spread these guys into areas they were never able to access without human intervention, but then there is a possibility that the habitat there could still be suitable. AZ is a good example – I have no doubt that, left alone they could reproduce and thrive (Provided that people keep bringing feral housecats around).

This reminds me of the starling, or more recently, the snake headed fish in Florida.

Surely, if some of those giant hellbenders in WV could find prey items and ride out the sub-zero wintertimes buried in mud, well then a gator could probably live out his life happily near the oufall of a power plant cooling pond in the Kanawha River. If he likes to eat carp and could stand the smell.

By: Mnynames

Mnynames — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 01:38:59 +0000

If I were to play prophet of doom for a moment here, perhaps this is but the vanguard of a vast crocodilian invasion force. These armour-plated reptiles witnessed the rise and fall of the dinosaurs with their dispassionate, reflective eyes, not to mention the advance and retreat of countless ice ages. In their cold, reptilian blood, perhaps they now sense that their time is coming again. The world is warming fast, and the seas are rapidly rising. To best exploit these choice conditions, they need to place their sleeper agents as broadly as possible. For every one we see, perhaps a dozen continue to lurk unnoticed in the dank and dismal fens we prefer to shun. When the proper moment arrives, perhaps they shall emerge from the murky depths en masse, putting an end to what remains of our pathetic little simian civilization, and usher in a new age of savage saurians…

…or not…

By: chrisandclauida2

chrisandclauida2 — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 23:54:54 +0000

doh! as cc2 slaps his forehead.

By: EastexQueenB

EastexQueenB — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 19:57:44 +0000

Is there a possibility some of these alligators may be discarded pets that have managed to adapt to their environments? It’s no secret that people own animals that they’re not supposed to…