WPMI (Mobile, Florida) 15 October 05 Gator ranch rounds up star reptiles
Moss Point, Miss. (AP): The Gulf Coast Gator Ranch has recovered about 80 of the 200 its star reptiles that were scattered throughout the area after Hurricane Katrina hit Aug. 29.
"We are catching one or two at a time every couple of days," said Anthony Adams, son of business owner Allen Adams.
The elder Adams said the key to catching the former tenants of the family owned-and-operated attraction is their stomach.
"We just wait for the opportunity to knock. We wait 'til they're hungry," said Allen Adams.
He said they place chickens on the islands in the swamp and wait for the alligators to come for dinner. That's when they catch them and bring them back to the ranch.
Before Katrina, an 8-foot-high wire fence surrounded the alligators' water-filled homes, but Katrina's storm surge flooded the pens, allowing the alligators to escape.
The ranch is open and ready for business, said Allen Adams, regardless of the work needed on some areas of the ranch, such as the souvenir shop and the air-boat dock.
Adams said the ranch has managed to get all but one of the air boats repaired and has restored a portion of the walking tour at the ranch.
"We are running our air-boat rides and now we have even opened our walking tour," said Anthony Adams.
The dock for the air boats was destroyed, so they have had to start lowering the boats in the air-boat yard for the tours. The farm has seen some business since they reopened, but not the volume seen before the storm.
Allen Adams said before the storm much of the ranch's business was tourists visiting Gulf Coast casinos and hotels. Much of their business left with the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina.
He said the ranch has attracted some new business from workers aiding in the recovery efforts, including members of the National Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and insurance adjusters.
Katrina wasn't the first hurricane to free animals from the Gator Farm. During Hurricane Georges in September 1998, flooding freed about 30 gators, workers estimated at the time.
Gator ranch rounds up star reptiles