SUN-SENTINEL (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) 05 March 06 Wildlife experts give tips on how to avoid gators (Nicole T. Lesson)
Kim Deitke doesn't live on the water and a fence surrounds her back yard. So she wasn't prepared for the scaly surprise she found last Memorial Day when she went outside to do some gardening.
A 7-foot alligator was lying on the grass between her garden and swimming pool.
"He took two steps toward me and I ran into the house," said Deitke, who lives in far western Pembroke Pines. "I watched him walk around the yard and the edge of the pool."
The gator was swimming in the pool when a trapper arrived to take him away.
"I never thought in a million years an alligator would be in my back yard," Deitke said.
South Florida residents have to co-exist with nature, especially as the suburbs spread farther west. Experts say residents need to know what to do and, more importantly, what to avoid, if they see an alligator. With spring and summer approaching, and breeding season starting at the end of the month, alligators are going to be more active and likely to be sighted by residents.
"Just seeing an alligator does not make it dangerous," said Willie Puz, media relations director for the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. "They have to come out of the water, as a cold-blooded reptile, to regulate their temperature by basking in the sun."
Problems start when people feed them. "They associate people with a handout," Puz said.
If you see an alligator more than 4 feet long that poses a threat to humans or property, call 1-866-392-4286, a statewide, toll-free number launched by the conservation commission last April. Dispatchers will answer questions or possibly send a licensed trapper to catch the gator.
Relocation of nuisance alligators is not an option because they are known to return to their capture sites, and reintroducing them into the wild disrupts the social structure of that gator population.
Blair Hayman, a biologist who works for the statewide nuisance alligator program, said dogs are especially at risk for alligator attacks.
"Most bodies of water have alligators or will have them; people should really expect them at some point," Hayman said.
"If they do have pets, and you want your dog to be outside, a fence is a good idea."
She urges people to make sure the bottoms of their fences are buried because alligators can crawl underneath or push through, and they can see a family pet through a chain-link fence.
"Gators don't know dogs. They see a small- to medium-sized furry mammal that looks tasty and it brings their radar," said Todd Hardwick, a licensed trapper who owns the Miami-based Pesky Critters, a wildlife nuisance control company.
Trappers, like Hardwick, are especially busy in Weston, Coral Springs, Parkland and Kendall, cities that are close to the Everglades. Because of development, alligators are moving from the west to east, he added.
"You can't create more wetlands, so try to be more aware of surroundings. We are in alligator country," Hardwick said. "We catch alligators in landlocked lakes all the time."
For more information, call the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission at 850-488-4676 or visit www.MyFWC.com/alligator.
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