Post by CB-GZR on Jul 29, 2010 10:23:45 GMT -5
This is in the city about 5 miles from my house. Kind of interesting the gator is right by 2 major roads and a highway with allot of people around.
Published: July 29, 2010
ST PETERSBURG - A trapper has been given permission to shoot an alligator that uses a south St. Petersburg canal.
It's not a common approach to gator removal.
"We've been receiving complaints about this alligator for the last two years," said Gary Morse, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "It may have taken a number of dogs in the area."
On Monday, the commission received a report the alligator attacked a dog. Neighbors took cell phone pictures and video of the attack.
"He ate the dog the day before yesterday," Linora Bledsoe, 53, who lives in the neighborhood, said Wednesday.
She said the canine belonged to a woman who had lost another dog to the alligator.
Mahmoud Said, 23, owns Tony's Meat Market, which is in a strip mall in the 1200 block of Fourth Street South, next to the canal where the alligator frequently is seen.
"It's a big one," he said. "They're actually more than one."
On his cell phone he has a picture of the dismembered remains of a dog left in the water by the alligator Monday.
Charles Carpenter, a trapper with Animal Capture of Florida, went out Tuesday to capture the alligator. He was unsuccessful.
"We've had problems with folks feeding him in the past," Carpenter said. "Everyone feeds him all the time, and we go out there and ... nothing."
One reason Carpenter has been given permission to shoot the alligator is that the canals in the area make it difficult to trap it, he said.
During capture, a rope could get caught on a chunk of concrete left in the water by those who built the canal, and then the rope would get severed in the tug-of-war between the alligator and the trapper.
Permission to shoot an alligator also is given when an animal fails to go after bait, Morse said.
"We try to avoid the use of firearms," Morse said.
Permission to shoot typically is granted "only if it's absolutely necessary," he said.
On July 18, a half-dozen juveniles were seen taunting a large alligator in the canal, which technically is the stretch of Booker Creek that connects with Tampa Bay. They were seen throwing rocks and sticks at the alligator and trying to hook the alligator with a fishing pole.
A woman was afraid one of the youngsters would "fall and get gobbled up," according to a St. Petersburg police report.
Published: July 29, 2010
ST PETERSBURG - A trapper has been given permission to shoot an alligator that uses a south St. Petersburg canal.
It's not a common approach to gator removal.
"We've been receiving complaints about this alligator for the last two years," said Gary Morse, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "It may have taken a number of dogs in the area."
On Monday, the commission received a report the alligator attacked a dog. Neighbors took cell phone pictures and video of the attack.
"He ate the dog the day before yesterday," Linora Bledsoe, 53, who lives in the neighborhood, said Wednesday.
She said the canine belonged to a woman who had lost another dog to the alligator.
Mahmoud Said, 23, owns Tony's Meat Market, which is in a strip mall in the 1200 block of Fourth Street South, next to the canal where the alligator frequently is seen.
"It's a big one," he said. "They're actually more than one."
On his cell phone he has a picture of the dismembered remains of a dog left in the water by the alligator Monday.
Charles Carpenter, a trapper with Animal Capture of Florida, went out Tuesday to capture the alligator. He was unsuccessful.
"We've had problems with folks feeding him in the past," Carpenter said. "Everyone feeds him all the time, and we go out there and ... nothing."
One reason Carpenter has been given permission to shoot the alligator is that the canals in the area make it difficult to trap it, he said.
During capture, a rope could get caught on a chunk of concrete left in the water by those who built the canal, and then the rope would get severed in the tug-of-war between the alligator and the trapper.
Permission to shoot an alligator also is given when an animal fails to go after bait, Morse said.
"We try to avoid the use of firearms," Morse said.
Permission to shoot typically is granted "only if it's absolutely necessary," he said.
On July 18, a half-dozen juveniles were seen taunting a large alligator in the canal, which technically is the stretch of Booker Creek that connects with Tampa Bay. They were seen throwing rocks and sticks at the alligator and trying to hook the alligator with a fishing pole.
A woman was afraid one of the youngsters would "fall and get gobbled up," according to a St. Petersburg police report.