We in The Villages pride ourselves as being patient, tolerant, law abiding, animal loving and nature-loving citizens. Unfortunately, it seems that not all are!
The rear of our house is 50 yards from a small lake in the Village of Palo Alto. It is a thing of natural beauty that we love to sit and watch each day and evening. Mockingbirds sing and nest. We watched fledgling bluebirds take their maiden flight from our nesting box. Martens skim the water for insects and the occasional drink. Magnificent Ospreys, all but extinct in my native United Kingdom, glide, hover and dive for fish, “shivering” on leaving the water to shake off the excess, soaring with fish aligned for aerodynamic purposes to feed their young. There are turtles, snakes and, ah yes, the occasional alligator. A miniature wonderland to behold in our own back yard. This, the sports, the weather and the wonderful people is why we moved to The Villages.
But all is not well. We witnessed the disturbing sight of a man fishing in our utopia…..for alligators. One in particular. Someone reported this huge beast as being aggressive and a danger to mankind. The trapper was called in. He cast his line with large triple hook over the monster and bravely reeled it in. Having wrestled it ashore, he taped its legs behind its back, taped its monstrous jaws shut and its eyes closed. With metal loop around its neck, it was then unceremoniously dragged away on its belly across the lawn and the concrete to be safely deposited in the rear of his truck.
Now, there are many in The Villages who believe that this beast would be transported to the Everglades, patted on the back and released to live happily ever after. Not so. Having spoken to the trapper, alligators caught in our hometown are taken to a factory and slaughtered for their meat and hides. Not so happy an ending.
As the picture shows, this “monster” was a mere 4 feet, 6 inches in length. It was surely more afraid of us than we were of it. In the extremely unlikely event that it would have attacked me, I am confident I could have taken care of myself.
My wife is a native of Florida and I have been coming here for six months almost every year for 17 years, a permanent resident for the past four years. We have seen many alligators, large and small, and not one of them has threatened us or come close to our house. We have had spiders and snakes in our lanai and garage, but never an alligator. If we had a pet or small children, we would keep them well away from the water’s edge or places where these creatures may be hiding. We cannot see a situation where one of these would attack us.
So, what is the next logical step? We are more likely to be bitten by a venomous snake or spider than by an alligator. Better to get rid of these snakes and spiders and those dangerous snapper turtles. Why, oh why would we do this? These creatures were here long before Mr. Schwartz arrived. We are squeezing their habitat and making life difficult for them. Why not “live and let live.” With a little common sense, we can share this beautiful oasis with these wondrous creatures. We have no need to exterminate them just because some foolish homo sapiens want to feed them, provoke them and approach the areas they still inhabit with little thought for the consequences, both for us and for them.
Alligators are a protected species in Florida. We would ask you all to think twice before you report these creatures to the authorities, who then appear to have little option other than to end their lives. You are more likely to be killed by a homo sapien with a gun in McDonald’s or some idiot driver on the road than an alligator, spider or snapping turtle.
Mike Tomlinson is a resident of the Village of Palo Alto.
