HOUSTON CHRONICLE (Texas) 14 June 06 Alligators sighted in neighborhoods - Word to the wise: Treat them with respect (John Pape)
With several alligator sightings in residential areas, Missouri City officials are warning residents to be cautious and call authorities if they see one of the large reptiles close to homes or populated areas.
Juan Acevedo, animal control supervisor with the Missouri City Police, said, "We've had a couple of incidents reported. It seems like (the alligators) are kind of active and are being sighted more often near people than in previous years."
So far, no injuries have been reported to either people or gators, but Acevedo cautions against getting too close to the potentially dangerous creatures.
"They might look slow when they're on land, but they can move very quickly if necessary. The can also be dangerous; just look at the recent cases of alligator attacks in Florida," Acevedo explained.
Alligators have been blamed for three deaths in Florida this year. Until last week, there had been only 17 fatal alligator attacks in that state since 1948, when record keeping began, said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Willie Puz.
Missouri City animal control personnel will capture and remove any alligator that poses a potential threat, if it is less than five feet in length. If a larger alligator is involved, a game warden will be called.
"The game wardens are specially trained and equipped to handle the bigger gators. We work very closely with the game wardens and will call them if a large gator is involved," Acevedo said.
Although alligators are fairly common in Fort Bend County, they tend to shy away from human activity in most cases. However, Missouri City spokeswoman Elsa Malakoff said that the city has a video of a gator more than six feet in length crossing Cartwright Road near FM 1092 last year during Hurricane Rita.
Monique Slaughter, a Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist who helps run the state alligator program at the J.D. Murphree Wildlife Management Area in Port Arthur, said that late spring through summer is alligator mating and nesting season, when gators are more likely to be visible.
"Springtime is when alligators are most active. Courtship and mating begins in late spring and continues through early summer, and this can be the peak time for nuisance gator calls," Slaughter said.
Game wardens and biologists stress education rather than overreaction as a first step in dealing with gators, suggesting a "live and let live" approach whenever possible. In recent years, however, there has been a steady rise in alligator complaints logged by the Parks and Wildlife communications center in LaPorte, many of which have not involved true "nuisance" gators.
"We now have procedures in place where we can educate callers that alligators are not normally aggressive, and if you leave them alone they'll leave you alone," said Capt. Albert Lynch, who supervises game wardens in the Houston area. "When you have an aggressive alligator there's no doubt, but a lot of the calls are from people who just have no idea that there are alligators here and have never seen one before."
In Texas, no fatalities have been documented due to gators. In the past 15 years, 17 injuries due to alligators have been reported statewide, none of which were life-threatening.
Although there is no statewide alligator population count, Slaughter noted that gators are found in 120 of Texas' 254 counties. Hunting statistics for the past 15 years show the average adult Texas gator is seven feet long and weighs 600 pounds.
Slaughter said it is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by fines from $25 - $500, for any person who intentionally feeds a free-ranging alligator.
Although the lakes that run throughout Sugar Land's subdivisions are considered amenities in many upper-income residential areas, they are also home to a number of alligators. The city has put alligator awareness information on its Web site to provide residents with tips on what to do if they encounter an alligator.
"You never feed an alligator or allow it to get food because that can cause an alligator to lose its natural fear of people and start looking at them as a food source," city spokesman Doug Adolph said. "We also tell people that they need to keep a safe distance of 30 feet or more."
Alligators sighted in neighborhoods