A curious alligator is causing a growing concern in a Cape Coral neighborhood. Residents are worried that the gator could harm an animal or kids who live nearby.
This gator has been showing up religiously at the corner of a canal for a month now along Southwest 17th Place, Southwest 13th Street and Southwest 17th Avenue, and does its version of sunbathing. Because of this, neighbors are using extra caution to protect their pets and children.
Despite seeing alligators all the time, Josefine Brown a neighbor who lives near the canal says this one makes her nervous.
"I'm not sure where he came from, but I'm concerned because he doesn't know where to go," said Brown.
This big gator even tried to get up the hill near the canal which is fairly close to several houses, Brown is worried about curious kids.
"These are little kids, you know, and then you have kids that are bored just running around and want to know what's going on. I saw kids throwing rocks at them, so I was like, that's not too good," she added.
Neighbors who live nearby say it's a little too close for comfort, and are shocked everytime to gator pops up.
"He's probably as big as I've ever seen, and to be able to get that close and look at him, it's out of this world," said Philip La Martina, a Cape Coral resident.
"It just sits down there," David Gonzalez said.
We reached out to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to find out when officers step in and remove gators.
They said if it is at least 4 feet long and believed to be a threat to people, pets, or property, it is considered a nuisance alligator and can be relocated.
"I don't want them near that, you know. You could see there is an angle where he could come up onto the yard, but just try to stay away," said Martina. "Obviously, you know, I've always read articles, like, if you kind of move faster than them on land, but once you're in the water, you're in trouble."
Trouble that these Cape Coral neighbors don't have time for.
"There's little you can do to move an alligator, but there's a lot you can do to change where your kid goes," said Gonzalez.
"We don't really know what's going on, but he doesn't bother anybody, and yeah, I'm not bothering him, so I'll tell you that," said Martina.
If you ever see an alligator, the best thing to do is to leave it alone. If the alligator is causing problems, contact the FWC.
The FWC places the highest priority on public safety and administers a
Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program
.
The goal of SNAP is to proactively address alligator threats in developed areas while conserving alligators in Florida. SNAP uses contracted nuisance alligator trappers throughout the state to remove alligators believed to pose a threat to people, pets or property.
People with concerns about an alligator can call the FWC’s toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286), and they will dispatch a contracted nuisance alligator trapper to resolve the situation.