Another Alligator Gone Bad Story.

[Virgo10]

This one bothered me more than the others. Pounding against the front window?!!!

New Port Richey, Florida - It took two bullets to get rid of a nine-foot alligator last night behind a New Port Richey home. Deputies were called to Wellfield Drive around 4:00 p.m. Homeowner Angie Apostolos says the reptile trapped her in her home by hissing and hitting her window.

One deputy was able to get the alligator to the side of the house. When the gator was four feet away from deputy, it opened its mouth and hissed. The deputy fired his carbine rifle and hit the alligator in its head. The alligator then retreated into a nearby pond.

A second deputy arrived at the scene and the alligator reappeared from the water. The deputy fired another shot at the creature and it again went back into the water.

Shortly after the incident, a certified trapper arrived on the scene and was able to remove the alligator from the pond.

Residents say that the gator and another that also measured nine feet long had been in their yards frequently during the past few days.

Sheesh, welcome to wild kingdom.

 

[ADisneygirl]

OMG!! Another alligator story AND this time so close to me! I don't know what this city girl would do if I saw an alligator beating on my house or windows. That is the stuff of nightmares.

 

[safetymom]

There was a report also about a homeowner shooting an alligator that came on her porch. It was only 3 feet. When the police came they told her it was against the law to do this and put the gator back in the pond.

 

[floridafam]

OMG! We used to live in Holiday (not far from New Port Richey)

How can it be against the law to shoot it if it's in your yard? It's legal to shoot a person in your yard down here if you feel threatened with death.



I worry about my DH. He runs almost every night and bikes a lot. I hope he never has to deal with a gator. He had a black panther appear by him during a ride a few months ago. It was more scared of him.

 

[ducklite]

Wow! That would be wicked scarey! I have a snake in one of my water shut off valve thingy's--my next door neighbor *discovered* it when he was helping me with my irrigation system. If it's not gone when DH gets here next week and goes out to work on the system, I'll be hacking that thing up with the axe from the garage. It's probably 2-3 feet long, and my neighbor wasn't sure if it was poisonous or not.

Anne

 

[wvrevy]

For another perspective...the alligator was just being an alligator. It hadn't "gone bad", it was just doing what alligators do (probably protecting it's territory, in this case).

As for shooting it... - one call to animal control and they will come out and move the gator. Not sure why you would want to shoot something that - in all honesty - has as much right to be there (or more) as the homeowner.

Don't want to deal with alligators? Don't live in an area that has been converted from swampland to suburb.

JMHO...

 

[Virgo10]

Wow! That would be wicked scarey! I have a snake in one of my water shut off valve thingy's--my next door neighbor *discovered* it when he was helping me with my irrigation system. If it's not gone when DH gets here next week and goes out to work on the system, I'll be hacking that thing up with the axe from the garage. It's probably 2-3 feet long, and my neighbor wasn't sure if it was poisonous or not.

Anne

Aww, don't do that, pleeeese! It might be a black racer. There are quite a few of them down here. They eat other snakes and bugs! If the thing takes off really fast and looks like this

that's what it is.

Even though this one was up against my front door, I just gave it a push with a stick and it was gone.

Anything that eats bugs is OK by me.

 

[Kitty 34]

For another perspective...the alligator was just being an alligator. It hadn't "gone bad", it was just doing what alligators do (probably protecting it's territory, in this case).

As for shooting it... - one call to animal control and they will come out and move the gator. Not sure why you would want to shoot something that - in all honesty - has as much right to be there (or more) as the homeowner.

Don't want to deal with alligators? Don't live in an area that has been converted from swampland to suburb.

JMHO...

ITA As much as I feel horrible for those poor women who got killed, unfortunetly it is a risk you take when you live near an alligator's habitat which now are canals, pools, yards as swamp lands are few and far between.

No different then the risk a person takes when swimming in the ocean, IMO.

 

[ducklite]

Aww, don't do that, pleeeese! It might be a black racer. There are quite a few of them down here. They eat other snakes and bugs! If the thing takes off really fast and looks like this

that's what it is.

Even though this one was up against my front door, I just gave it a push with a stick and it was gone.

Anything that eats bugs is OK by me.

I didn't get more than a super quick glance. Kurt said "Snake!" and I screamed and ran and he dropped the cover.

You wanna come up and take a look for me? I see a new tag coming, "Official DIS Snake Wrangler."

Anne

 

[CheshireVal]

For another perspective...the alligator was just being an alligator. It hadn't "gone bad", it was just doing what alligators do (probably protecting it's territory, in this case).

As for shooting it... - one call to animal control and they will come out and move the gator. Not sure why you would want to shoot something that - in all honesty - has as much right to be there (or more) as the homeowner.

Don't want to deal with alligators? Don't live in an area that has been converted from swampland to suburb.

JMHO...

Good post.

I kinda feel sorry for the gators.

 

[floridafam]

We have 2 black racers that live in our yard. I saw one the other day. It was in our shed. DH said it can live in there if it wants to and take care of all the critters.

 

[ChristmasElf]

Sorry. But if I see a snake, that puppy is goin' down! Black racer or not, they scare the huhbeebers outta me!

 

[flaps]

I know I probably shouldn't laugh, but "Another Alligator Gone Bad" just tickles my funnybone.


'round here, I hear it's the spiders gone bad (somethin' 'bout the bites bein' weird or sumpin' - I dunno )