CHARLOTTE SUN (Charlotte Harbour, Florida) 29 July 07 Alligators and humans: A Fragile Truce (Bob Massey)
As more people move to Florida, and the iconic reptile's habitat dwindles, more -- and more deadly -- confrontations are inevitable
Two years ago this month in a Port Charlotte canal, a creature that has remained Florida's most enduring icon served up a grisly reminder of the uneasy truce between the human world and its animal counterpart.
After working up a sweat mowing a client's grass, Kevin Albert Murray thought it would be refreshing to dive into the Apollo Waterway that ran along the back of the homeowner's yard. It was not an uncommon practice for the 41-year-old lawn maintenance man.
But this time it was met with an uncommon result. Murray came face-to-face -- or, rather, arm-to-mouth -- with a 12-foot 2-inch, 1,200-pound alligator.
The wrestling match was over before it started. After initially being pulled under, a screaming Murray managed to resurface only once. He wasn't seen again for nearly a half-hour, still suspended in his attacker's massive jaws. (Murray's body was eventually recovered by a state alligator trapper, who subsequently shot and killed the beast.)
True -- alligator attacks are rare. And dogs and cats are more likely to be their victims. (And these are rarely reported. Often, a pet goes missing, leaving no evidence it has become a snack.)
But a shift may be occurring, as the once separate worlds of humans and gators begin to spiral toward one another, leading to inevitable -- possibly deadly -- confrontations.
The latest episode to make the news occurred June 25, when a 10-foot 11-inch alligator chomped on a Tennessee tourist. The man, who had been retrieving his golf ball from a pond at the Lake Venice golf course, survived the attack. The gator did not; it was caught and destroyed.
And statistics suggest we can expect more of the same.
Cause for alarm
From 1948 to 2005, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission documented 356 alligator attacks, with 25 resulting in fatalities.
Murray's death was the last recorded in that time frame, and the first reported alligator fatality in Charlotte County in nearly two decades. (In 1988, a 4-year-old girl was killed while walking along the shore of Hidden Lake. Before that, a 52-year-old man was attacked while swimming in the Peace River Canal in 1977.)
Although the FWC has been reporting that human-alligator confrontations have been increasing, there was still no cause for alarm.
Until 2006.
Last year is considered by many to be the worst in the entire history of alligator attacks. Within the span of a week, three women in disparate parts of the state -- one in Sunrise, one in Lake George and another in St. Petersburg -- were killed by gators, the latter two on the same day.
"There have been an increasing number of confrontations over the last 30, 40 years," said Dr. Martin Main, associate professor and wildlife ecologist at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center in Immokalee. "Recently, there have been a lot.
"We don't like the thought of anything gobbling up our pets -- or even us. So any time a gator attacks a person, it's pretty scary."
What's scarier: There's likely to be more.
King of the world
One can only imagine how early Spanish explorers reacted upon first confronting the American alligator. It is from their language that the animal derived its name -- "el lagarto," which appropriately means "the lizard." Not A lizard, but THE lizard, the king of the reptile world, ruling its subtropical domain with savage efficiency.
Alligators are born struggling to survive, an instinct that seems to pervade the entire species. From before it even hatches, a gator's enemies are many.
Alligator eggs are vulnerable to drowning, being crushed by the mother, and predation by raccoons, hogs, otters and bears. Newborns are not much better off -- a menu item for the aforementioned critters, as well as wading birds and fish.
But the greatest enemy of young alligators is ... other alligators.
Yes, alligators are cannibals.
According to The Gator Hole, a Web site "dedicated to the American alligator, an often maligned and generally misunderstood resident of the southeastern United States": Despite all these obstacles, "Once an alligator reaches about 4 feet, its only real predator is man."
"Their open countenances carry no indications of generosity ... but, on the contrary, are typical of all that is truculent, sardonic and hideously repulsive," wrote naturalist John Mortimer Murphy in his 1899 article, "Alligator Shooting in Florida." In this two-part adventure yarn, brimming with demonic attacks by his nemeses, he concludes the obvious: "Man and the alligator seem to be natural enemies, for the former rarely misses an opportunity of destroying the latter."
And destroy them they did.
Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Florida alligators were hunted almost to extinction.
From about 300,000 animals in 1967 -- the year gators began a 20-year stint on the Endangered Species list -- the alligator population has jumped to its current number, which is estimated between 1.5 million and 2 million. And growing.
In addition to propagation, protection allowed some members of the species to grow larger.
The Florida state record for length is nearly 15 feet; for weight, 1,043 pounds.
But the biggest problem is not size but prevalence.
"People I know who were kids in Florida in the 1960s (before gators received protection) never even saw an alligator," Main said. "Now we have a much larger gator population -- and that alone increases confrontations. We also have a heck of a lot more people, so you've increased both factors."
While not exactly like ringing a dinner bell, the presence of more humans does pose potential problems.
What's on the menu
"An alligator is an opportunistic feeder," Main said. "It consumes a wide range of things. It eats anything. You're talking about an animal that eats turtles."
Turtles, yes. Also snails, frogs, fish, snakes, waterfowl, small mammals and, of course, smaller alligators. Even sticks, stones, cans, fishing lures and other assorted items have been discovered inside the stomachs of some gators.
There's very little that's not edible when you've got jaws that can close with a pressure measuring 3,000 pounds per square inch.
"Their crushing power is the strongest of any animal on Earth," Main noted. "It can be compared with (the bite of) a Tyrannosaurus rex.
"You see a gator 10 to 12 feet, that's a serious animal."
Alligator teeth are not serrated, but conical, used less for cutting (although cut they can, with many attacks resulting in dismemberment) and more for clamping and holding. Gators will frequently drown prey before eating it.
"When dealing with larger prey, an alligator may shake its head or spin its body in order to tear off a piece small enough to swallow," The Gator Hole says. "They have also been known to hold food in their mouth until it deteriorates to the point they can swallow it."
In spite of all this, humans are rarely on the menu.
But with Florida's current population of about 12.5 million, and an estimated 900 people moving here every day, the state is becoming a potential smorgasbord for our reptilian neighbors.
"Some people say alligators don't attack humans," Main said, "but, historically, that's not true. You wouldn't expect a gator to take on a person, but, in fact, larger gators have done that in recent years."
A growing 'nuisance'
As growing development steadily encroaches on the alligator's natural habitat, the reptile's survival instinct seems to be kicking in.
"Whenever you create artificial wetlands, you create an alligator habitat in people's backyards," explained Gary Morse, FWC's public information coordinator.
And so the reptiles are more frequently being seen in the most unwelcome of places -- backyard ponds, ditches, streams, pools, golf courses, carports and garages. In 2000, one North Port resident found a gator squatting at her front door. Two years later, a woman driving down Toledo Blade (now Cochran) Boulevard in Port Charlotte one night inadvertently ran over a gator -- which promptly responded by attacking her car, leaving bite marks in the metal.
These are what the FWC would term "nuisance" complaints. And the agency responds to about 18,000 of them a year.
Nuisance gators are those that have ventured into the human world to the point where they pose a potential threat to people, pets or property. Most of these are at least 4 feet in length, since smaller specimens are largely fearful of humans. However, a smaller gator that does not retreat if approached, or is found in a location that is not natural, should be reported to the state.
In 2005, state trappers "harvested" 9,134 nuisance gators, averaging about 7 feet in length, with the largest being 13.6 feet. This yielded about 137,701 pounds of alligator meat. (Trappers often sell the meat to restaurants and wholesalers for $5 to $7 per pound, and the highly valued skins to leather tanneries throughout the world, where hides average $25 per foot.)
"We have had an increasing number," Morse said, "but we've been able to handle nuisance alligators up to this point."
Summer is usually an active period for gators, since mating season -- at which time the animals are naturally more aggressive -- begins in May or June.
"Trappers work about 18 hours a day this time of year," Morse said. "That's because gators feed more, they move around more, do everything more -- and get into people's swimming pools and gardens more. We're constantly dealing with alligator problems."
And when water becomes scarce -- such as during one of our familiar Florida droughts -- alligators go on the move, foraging for alternative sources -- and often right into human territory.
While all these factors make it more difficult for people to avoid confrontations with alligators, there are ways to minimize the risk.
Preventing -- and surviving -- an attack
"You're more likely to encounter a gator where there's a lot of water, because it's easier for them to move around," Main said.
It's also the element in which most attacks occur.
Before attacking, a gator may stalk its prey for hours. Or it may react to a sudden opportunity.
"The scariest thing for me as a parent, when my daughter was growing up, was when we were playing at a lake or by the Peace River," Main said. "I always kept her in my sight."
Vigilance is the best way to avoid becoming a victim.
Although there is no evidence of an alligator ever chasing down a human (nor is there any truth to the myth that running in a zig-zag pattern will help you avoid a charging gator), you should not put yourself into the position of being the first to find out.
"Don't put yourself in a compromised position, slogging through a marshy area," Main warned. "And don't approach a gator that appears to be asleep. People see a lethargic gator on a bank. What they don't realize is that's an animal that can move very quickly for short distances."
Quickly, and with great agility.
"An alligator is not a brilliant animal," Main said. "It's not like a dog; it doesn't do a lot of reasoning. But it can tell when a prey animal is compromised or susceptible. If you're splashing around, you're vulnerable."
In truth, many alligator attacks are thought to have stemmed from accidental collisions. Alligators investigate their environment through oral contact. If a swimmer bumps into a gator, the gator's initial tendency is to clamp down in order to find out what it ran into.
Though they can be fierce fighters, gators prefer prey that can be easily overpowered.
"Once an attack takes place," advises an FWC fact sheet, "the best thing the victim can do is to fight the alligator -- to create as much noise and confusion as possible. Usually the alligator will realize it has made a mistake by attacking a large animal it cannot overpower easily, and it will turn loose and flee."
It may work, as with the Lutz, Fla., pastor who was swimming in a lake when he was dragged under by a 6-foot gator in 2004, and escaped by punching the animal in the nose.
Or, as in the case of Kevin Albert Murray, who screamed his way through an attack in a Port Charlotte canal, it may not work at all.
While the vast majority of gator attacks are unprovoked, humans may actually share some of the responsibility for the increase in confrontations.
Ignoring the danger
Following the attack on Murray, a neighbor reportedly told rescue workers there had never before been a problem with alligators in that canal, and the one that had attacked was "very friendly."
Alligators are many things. "Friendly" isn't ever one of them.
And therein lies much of the problem -- a Disneyesque perception of wild animals as almost tame. (Remember Brutus and Nero in "The Rescuers"?) You see this inexplicable behavior in national parks, where -- despite posted warnings and scores of anecdotal horror stories -- visitors insist on feeding the bears.
In fact, not two weeks after Murray's fatal attack, a Punta Gorda couple was caught (and pleaded guilty to) feeding crab bait to alligators on Jim Long Lake. They were each fined and put on probation; going to trial could have resulted in a 60-day prison sentence.
The gators were immediately destroyed. They had to be.
Once fed, alligators associate humans with a meal ticket very quickly, thus losing their natural fear -- and making them more likely to attack. (For this reason, FWC cautions against throwing fish scraps into the water at camps and boat ramps, since alligators will consider this being fed.)
The lack of human responsibility -- some would call it stupidity -- is a significant factor not only in increased confrontations, but also in the unnecessary destruction of alligators.
Turns out the critters are not all bad.
"Alligators play an important ecological role," Main said. "They've been called the architects of the Everglades. They also play important roles for wading birds, which nest in the trees above gator holes. Raccoons are less likely to attack their eggs when there's a dragon in the moat."
Alligators are also considered one of the state's most valuable renewable resources.
But coexistence requires care.
"Millions of people in Florida, and only three (gator-related) deaths last year," Main mused. "Those are pretty good odds compared to what happens on the highway."
And humans should do everything they can to keep it that way.
Nuisance Alligator Hotline
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission launched a toll-free hotline in 2005, allowing residents to quickly and easily report nuisance alligators. The number -- 1-866-FWC-GATOR (392-42867) -- is available around the clock.
10 ways to avoid alligator attacks
FWC suggests Florida residents and visitors take the following precautions to prevent alligator attacks.
1. Leave alligators alone. A provoked gator is a more dangerous gator.
2. NEVER feed alligators. You put yourself and your neighbors at risk. (It's also illegal!)
3. If you see someone else feeding alligators, inform them not to. (Note: Some cases have been prosecuted when continual offenders were reported.)
4. Dispose of fish scraps in garbage cans at boat ramps.
5. Swim only during the day. Gators are more active at dawn and dusk.
6. Don't swim in areas that have alligators, or outside of posted swimming areas.
7. Never allow children to play alone or near the water.
8. Don't allow pets to enter waters known to have alligators.
9. Never capture a gator or accept one as a pet. They CANNOT be tamed, and even small ones will bite. (And, again, it's illegal!)
10. If you are bitten or scratched by a gator, see a doctor immediately. A gator's mouth can harbor dangerous bacteria, which may enter your body through the wound.
Alligators and humans: A Fragile Truce