PALM BEACH POST (Florida) 26 March 08 Cerabino: We're in jaws of prime spot to trap gators (Frank Cerabino)
So, I was reading the job application for a "nuisance alligator trapper" in Florida.
Don't laugh. If you're going to be an alligator trapper, there's no better place to be in Florida than Palm Beach County.
We lead the state in nuisance alligators. (I suspect, we also lead the state in nuisance people, but those statistics are harder to track.)
The gator stats are kept by Harry Dutton, the coordinator for the Alligator Management Program, a division of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Palm Beach County is far ahead of the rest of the state in nuisance alligator complaints.
Last year we tallied 1,336 nuisance alligator calls, resulting in 810 "harvested" alligators, according to Dutton's numbers.
By comparison, Broward County got 534 calls, and only Palm Beach County went over triple digits in gator-nuisance calls.
Among Florida's 67 counties, Liberty County is the lone one without an alligator nuisance call last year.
Palm Beach's numbers were down from 2006, when the county led the state again with 1,839 alligator nuisance calls and 837 gators trapped and killed.
"It's just a function of the juxtaposition of people and wetlands," Dutton said.
In other words, we've pushed development, replete with golf course communities and man-made lakes, into prime alligator territory.
More people living next to more alligators, that's our recipe.
And it helps that many of those people grew up in places where alligators were only in zoos.
"I'm not picking on New Yorkers," said Ricky Kramer, who owns Kramer's Gator Control in Lake Worth, "but when they come down and see an alligator, they freak out, even though the alligator's not bothering anybody."
'Harvest' tough without right equipment
Kramer theorized that, in other parts of the state, the lower numbers may be partially attributable to a less excitable populace.
So when it comes to alligators, we're a "harvesting" mecca.
The word "harvesting" suggests a benign sort of process, as if alligators are just a bunch oversized zucchinis. But if you read the job application for a trapper, you get a different picture.
For example, it's a plus if you indicate that you already have "snares, harpoons and archery equipment."
I don't. That would be a problem for me. Sure, I could fake my way through the essay questions, but it's generally not a profession that requires writing skills.
Area swamped with two-legged nuisances
Kramer grew up in the business. His father was an alligator trapper, too. Success, he said, depends on how well you do in that first attempt to catch an alligator.
"Each time you mess with the alligator, he gets smarter and smarter," Kramer said.
The job might seem glamorous, he said, but it's not.
"Some days you're the windshield and some days you're the bug," he said. "Everybody wants the job, but once you get into it, they don't want it anymore."
It's part-time work, with trappers being paid for what they catch.
"I sell it all, the hide, the flesh, the bones, the whole alligator," Kramer said.
That can bring in anywhere from $200 to $1,000 for an alligator, he said.
And with breeding season approaching, the busy time of year is at hand.
The state's Web site says that there already are more than enough licensed trappers to handle the demand:
"The Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program experiences very little turnover among its contracted trappers. Consequently, trappers positions are rarely available."
So it looks like I'm better off sticking with the nuisance-people business - where there's always a bountiful harvest.
We're in jaws of prime spot to trap gators