NEWS-PRESS (Fort Mters, Florida) 28 January 04 Sanibel gator kills since fatal attack now 81 - Landscaper's mauling alters policy (Sarah Lundy)
Trappers have killed at least 81 alligators on Sanibel Island in the six months after a fatal attack on a landscaper.
The number marks a dramatic jump in harvested alligators compared with years past when between five to 12 alligators were hauled away, Police Chief Bill Tomlinson said.
Janie Melsek, 54, was attacked by an 11-foot, 9-inch alligator July 21 as she worked near a pond. Her death sparked debate over how to handle the more than 300 alligators that share the 12-mile island with residents.
In response, the city changed its nuisance alligator policy. Some questioned the change, which allows a trapper to kill any alligator 4 feet or larger if the animal is making people feel unsafe.
"It's an odd policy," said Tim Gardner, a Sanibel resident and International Osprey Foundation president. "It creates an opportunity for another (alligator) to come in."
On Sept. 29, six gators up to 9 feet, 6 inches were removed from Bowman's Beach. A 10-foot, 7-inch gator was taken from the front porch of a home on Lake Murex Boulevard on Oct. 24. In two days, on Aug. 27 and 28, a trapper removed 12 alligators ranging from 6 feet, 10 inches to 12 feet from the Dunes Country Club on Sand
Castle Road. A few days later, five more gators were taken from Beachview Golf Club on Par View Drive.
Scott Hatto, Beachview's head golf pro, said he has noticed fewer large gators lingering near the course.
"We still see a lot of the little ones," he said, noting alligators haven't been a problem.
Others said they have been a problem. Melsek's death was the second fatal attack on Sanibel in three years. Robert Steele, 81, was walking his dog near a canal when a 10-foot, 9-inch alligator killed him on Sept. 11, 2001.
In April, Jane Keefer, 74, was injured when a 9-foot, 7-inch gator bit and dragged her into the canal behind her home.
After Melsek's attack, the number of calls about alligators went up, Tomlinson said. Since July, police took 172 alligator complaints.
"People are more concerned and more aware," he said.
The number of alligators killed so far doesn't worry Kevin Godsea, the lead park ranger at J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge.
"Most of them are large alligators and in residential areas. It's a safety situation," he said. "They did a lot of trapping early on after Janie Melsek's death and they have kind of slowed up. We expected that."
No alligators were killed in January, said Gary Morse, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman. The last alligator killed was in December.
Godsea doesn't believe the current policy will have a negative impact on the alligator population.
"I don't think you will see a decline in breeding," he said.
Some just wish officials would go after people who feed alligators as aggressively as they do nuisance gators. Feeding alligators is a crime punishable by up to a $500 fine and 60 days in jail.
"We don't like to look at ourselves for the reason why there is a problem," said Mark Westall of Sanibel, the city's former mayor and an environmentalist. "People think if they kill all these alligators that we have solved the problem."
Sanibel gator kills since fatal attack now 81