VENICE GONDOLIER (Florida) 19 June 05 Watch out! Alligator season is here
You wouldn't believe the stupid things people do when it comes to alligators, said Win Sell, North Port's animal control officer.
The longtime animal control officer remembers when he was driving through the Publix parking lot and saw a man holding a 2-year-old in front of a drainage pipe by the water retention pond. Inside the pipe was a 12-foot gator.
Sell asked what they were doing.
He recalls the man answered, "Showing my son the alligator. Isn't that why they put it there?"
The next day, warning signs went up around that retention pond.
"What the person didn't realize is he was offering his son to the gator as a snack," Sell said.
Between May and October, alligators will become abundant, Sell said.
"They'll be mating and soon there will be thousands of small gators running around all over North Port," he said.
Male alligators will be more brazen, or "stupid" during the mating season, and female gators will become more territorial, as they guard their nest and babies, Sell said.
During this time, school is out, the weather is hot and more people, including children, will be enjoying outdoor activities such as fishing, swimming and exploring areas swimming holes filled with water, Sell said.
"This is the time when a resident has a greater chance of encountering a gator," he said.
Sell, who has had many dealings with alligators while growing up and in his capacity as an animal control officer, said residents need to exercise basic common sense when they encounter an alligator.
"Just leave them alone," Sell said. "We're in their environment. You have to remember, these creatures are dinosaurs, nothing but an eating machine. Even the cute little ones can do serious harm if you're bitten."
Sell said alligators can be quickly conditioned to humans, especially when food is involved.
"If you feed an alligator, it will lose its fear of humans," he said, adding that feeding an alligator is against the law.
Some people also will try to hit the alligator with a broom or some other object.
"Although the size of a gator's brain is no bigger than a pea, hitting it only lets him know that you can't hurt him," Sell said.
Sell said an alligator can't chew or swallow what it bites off. And when a gator bites, it really twists what it has a hold of in its mouth and rips it off. The alligator must them digest the food, which Sell says is like a "rotting process," before it can swallow it.
"Because the gator twists off what it has bitten on, the bite isn't the only thing a person has to worry about," Sell said. "Remember, the gator digests its food in gizzards, like a cow, before swallowing it. There's a lot of bacteria in the mouth that can cause a serious infection."
Sell said when a gator bites, it opens its mouth and will bite down when something touches its mouth.
"Sometimes you'll see a gator in the water with its mouth open. Gators are opportunistic feeders. The gator will keep its mouth open until something touches its mouth. As soon as something touches it, they shut it very quickly," Sell said.
Sell suggests those fishing on banks carry a couple of tennis balls with them.
"If you get chased by a gator, it will run at you with its mouth open. Throw the tennis ball into their mouth, and that will give you some time to get out of there while the gator tries to figure out what it has."
Sell said the second ball is for a gator who quickly figures out it's not food, "or the person who can't run very fast."
Watch out! Alligator season is here