Is this a crisis of faith as “Not in my backyard” meets “Crocodile Hunter”?
Is this an example of one asshole being caught on camera and ruining it for Game Wardens everywhere?
I feel that there should have been an effort to relocate this animal. I’m also tempted to say that the outcry from the community is a day late and a dollar short (someone could have approached him and intervened at some point).
I certainly see this as a potential catalyst for an aggresive and thorough re-examination of urban wildlife management practices across the US and cities around the world.
I certainly see this as not all that big of a deal.
Couldn’t get the tape to run, so clue me in.
Was he speeding down the road, swerving side to side to bounce the gator off of lamp posts and mailboxes?
Or was he driving somewhat slowly, trying to get the animal to a safer location to shoot it.
I did not understand that alligators were particularly endangered. And I do not know the costs/effectiveness of relocation. And the partial blindness/possible aggressiveness might be an issue.
Next up, a ban on mousetraps and insecticide!
The animal was chained to the back of a truck and drug down the road at a slow speed for a distance of a few blocks, to the end of the street, where it was shot and killed. There are periods where the alligator tries to “roll” free of the chains, and does come close to hitting (may have hit) the curb.
When I saw this air on the Today show this morning, the horrified look on the face of the anchorwoman, and the reaction of the various witnesses, prompted me to think, “Where have you been, people?”
“Removal” by whatever means necessary (yet inexpensive) is what the public demands of public nuisance/danger animals from our Department of Fish and Game.
The public is much less demanding about knowing what “Removal” may or may not involve. This time they got to know involuntarily. The public is also much less demanding about understanding all of the factors that contribute to the existance of a public nuisance/danger animal. Hopefully this incident will spark more interest into this problem.
It does not have to be so expensive to rehabilitate and/or re-locate urban wildlife. In fact, streamlining that process will only prove to be more necessary as we continue to squeeze creatures out of their habitat.
For the occasions when a humane death is the “best” option, I certainly hope that doing so in the middle of a suburban neighborhood does not prove to be a popular approach, as it is quite irresponsible.
The article, like most news articles, raises many more questions than it answers. The first question not adequately answered is why? Why did the warden do this? There is a suggestion that there were children nearby and this was the safest way to remove the animal to a place where it could be safely destroyed. I do not feel sufficiently informed to form a judgment but I doubt the warden would to this for no reason. One thing I can safely say is that reporters often do lousy jobs of reporting.
The animal was loated in the center of a densely populated suburaban area (about 6 miles from my house). Alligators are rare enough around here that is should have been relocated, not killed.
Yeah, if it comes down to a choice between demeaning the 'gator’s self esteem and letting it eat some local toddler, cap the 'gator! Sorry, but Havahart* doesn’t make traps for large, man-eating predators. To quote PJ O’Rourke, “How far we’ve come from our agrarian roots.”
*I used to live in Takoma Park, MD where they tried banning mouse and rat traps in favor of Havahart humane traps. The idea was to trap the vermin in a cruelty-free way, drive them up to Frederick and let them pursue their natural self-actualization. Folks up in Frederick, understandably, complained. The sale of regular mousetraps commenced unabated.
Ok saw the video. Had a bit of a laugh. I dont see what all the hysteria is all about. Its an alligator. It was sliding on its belly, the truck was not going that fast and it was really hard to tell if it was in any real pain.
Personally, the warden should be fired. Not because he was cruel but because he didnt have enuf sense to call for back up, know enuf about how to take the creature alive and unharmed, didnt watch enuf Croc Hunter to know that it takes about 6 australians to capture and transfer a croc. So there shoulda been 2 more texans and a Florida guy there.
Anyway, watching the alligator slide down that street struck me as funny. What was the Warden’s name? Cleetus? I imagine he only dragged it to get it somewhere where the kids (or those sissy PETA parents) wont have to see him shoot the thing. He probably saved the county some money but i figure the lawsuit and bad publicity offsets that.
I used to help a friend who owned an alligator farm here in Louisiana.
I have hand caught hundreds of alligators, all between 3 and 5 feet long.
Let me assure you that a 9 foot long gator is an incredibly strong and unpredictable beastie. We occasionaly had some of the bigger ones get out of the breeding pond and they had to be caught. For a 9 footer, I’d say you need three strong men and a good noose, or 2 maniacs.
If this man was alone and there were children in the area, he did the safest thing he could’ve done. The easiest thing would’ve been to shoot it in the head on the spot. Obviously he was concerned about the possibilities of ricochets, either off the concrete under the gator, or off it’s skull.
I’ve heard tales of .45 cal pistol rounds bouncing off big gators heads, so I’d be leary of firing in an urban setting.
Obviously the animal could’ve been relocated, but what may have happened while the game warden waited for backup ?
And, to be honest, the alligator population has been exploding in the last couple of decades. If this beast had lost it’s fear of humans (as it obviously had) it could’ve been a future threat.
I do recommend “Blackened Alligator Tail” if you can get it. Delicious
Much ado about nothing. Should have shot the thing first, but dragging it down the road before shooting it in the head isn’t that big of a deal. It is, wait for it…an animal. Or it was, now it is dinner and a purse. I think there are children starving somewhere.
You are, wait for it…an animal, too. What’s your point?
Starving children are irrelevant. We (humans) grow more than enough food to feed everyone as it is. The only reason they don’t get fed is because of economics and politics.
Yes, I know starving children are irrelevant. And yes, I know I am an animal, and I don’t want animals to suffer needlessly, but on the other hand, slowly dragging the gator down the street, shortly before evacuating its skull is not that big of a deal. I doubt the thing suffered much, and I’d rather the animal have a few scrapes before being executed than take a chance of a person getting hurt. Now, if the manner of execution had been to drive the thing down the highway at 60mph until dead, I might get upset about that. But this? No.
I’m with Rhum Runner. Leave the game warden alone; he seems to have tried to do the best job possible.
And if he had waited for back-up and then the gator fanged a child, all the people upset about him dragging the gator behind a truck would have been calling for his summary execution.
Then again, one shouldn’t be surprised at what could happen if a bunch of children don’t know any better than to stand within fanging range of an alligator. He could have told folks to stay away and called for back-up.
In fact, from the video, the pick-up was being tailed by a police cruiser, which means that, at least at some point, police were on the scene, and could have helped control any crowd which might have been present until sufficient back-up to properly relocate the gator did arrive. The dragging (and subsequent shooting) was unnecessary.
I think more of an issue here is that the alligator, by all appearances, was lynched. I don’t think that was the warden’s intent, but it did have overtones of such a thing. It’s no wonder that people got a little freaked out by seeing the video.
You’re obviously an idiot, do the world a favor and don’t breed, the world has too many stupid people in it already. I know that’s the only thing you morons know how to do, just stop!
