Tag: Alligator

Turn up volume to hear alligator’s deep roar that ‘vibrates water surface’

The Everglades National Park posted video of an alligator floating in a lake and sounding off with an intimidating guttural growl.

The Everglades National Park captured video of an alligator floating in a lake with its head and tail out of the water, and letting out an intimidating “deep roar that vibrates the water surface.”

The footage posted to the park’s Twitter feed was taken by Federico Acevedo of the Everglades National Park, and it is best viewed with the volume turned up.

The park described the video in other tweets:

“Video description: An American Alligator floats in a lake with its head and tail out of the water, puffing up and letting out a deep roar that vibrates the water surface…

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“Did you know the American Alligator has no vocal cords but it can produce a wide range of sounds? Male alligators bellow loudly to warn off other males and attract mates. They do this by sucking air into their lungs and blowing it out in a deep roar.”

Watch: Frightened angler chased from pond by ‘hungry’ alligator

A Florida news station has shared footage showing an alligator emerging from a pond and chasing an angler who had briefly turned his back on the reptile.

A Florida news station has shared footage showing an alligator chasing a frightened angler who had briefly turned his back on the reptile.

“Never turn your back on a hungry gator!” Matt Devitt of WINK Weather advised on Facebook.

RELATED: Florida gator tears through metal fence with alarming ease; video

The video clip is short and it was not clear how far the angler ran or what inspired the gator to chase him.

“Clear evidence the gator has been fed by humans,” one person suggested in the comments. “A truly wild gator would shy away from humans.”

Because the clip cuts off without a proper ending, another person remarked: “We need a Part 2.”

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Watch: Alligator shows python who rules the Everglades

A Florida resident has captured footage showing an alligator devouring a large python after what appears to have been a lopsided battle.

A Florida resident has captured footage showing an alligator attempting to devour a large python after what appears to have been a lopsided battle.

The graphic footage was shared recently by Katina Boychew under the heading: Gator vs Python.

It was also a battle between a native species (American alligator) and a highly invasive species (Burmese python).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Katina Boychew (@katina86)

So it must have pleased Floridians to see the gator dispatching the python, at times thrashing its rival, so thoroughly.

As Sage Marshall described this week in Field & Stream: “… The gator then proceeds to gulp down part of the giant snake in a way that reminds me of Joey Chestnut eating hot dogs on the 4th of July.”

The one-sided result should not come as a surprise, given the weight advantage enjoyed by gators.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the heaviest alligator recorded in the state weighed 1,043 pounds.

The state-record python weighed 215 pounds.

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Watch: Giant alligator disrupts play at Florida golf course

A Florida news station has shared video footage showing a massive alligator disrupting practice on a golf course and hissing at players riding in a cart.

A Florida news station has shared video footage showing a massive alligator disrupting practice on a golf course and hissing at players riding in a cart.

“Huge Florida Gator! We do golf a little different,” Matt Devitt, chief meteorologist at WINK News, stated Sunday via Twitter. “Check out this big guy playing through at a Florida course!”

The footage, credited to Dalton Mehrl, shows the alligator trampling a bin of practice balls. The gator then hisses from a cart path as golfers in a cart approach too closely.

“He’s angry,” one of the golfers observes, repeatedly, as the group backs away.

RELATED: Watch as Florida gator tears through metal fence with alarming ease

The footage also shows the gator slow-stepping across the practice area before seemingly pausing to nap.

The size of the reptile is unclear but for those who might wonder: The Florida length record for alligators is 14 feet, 3-1/2 inches. The weight record (involving a different gator) is 1,043 pounds.

Watch: Glowing eyes in storm pipe don’t belong to huge toad after all

A stormwater crew in Florida was using a robot to check out a storm drain for potential leaks or cracks when they saw two eyes staring back.

A stormwater crew in Florida was using a robot to check out a storm drain for potential leaks or cracks when they saw two glowing eyes. At first, they believed it was a huge toad. Then the robot got closer.

To the crew’s amazement, the eyes belonged to a 5-foot alligator.

The encounter occurred in the City of Oviedo.

The City of Oviedo detailed its find in a Facebook post:

You’ve heard of Snakes on a Plane? How about Gator in a Pipe?

On May 5, a Stormwater crew was out at Lockwood Blvd near Riverside to investigate a series of potholes that have appeared in the roadway. The crew has a robot, which is a four-wheel robotic camera that can go into the pipes and investigate any anomalies under the roadway. They usually bring the robot out to inspect when there are potential roadway defects to see if any pipes have leaks, cracks, defects, etc.. underground.

On Friday’s inspection, as you’ll see in the video, they came across a five-foot alligator! At first, they thought it was a toad and in the video, you see two little glowing eyes until you get closer – but when it turned around, they saw the long tail of the alligator and followed it through the pipes! You can see in the video they got about 340 feet in before the robot got stuck on a little indentation and the alligator meandered off.

Just another reason not to go wandering down into the Stormwater pipes! Thank goodness our crews have a robot.

So the video begged the question: How did the gator get out of the pipe?

The City of Oviedo supplied an answer on Facebook: “Through the storm water ponds.”

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‘Once in a lifetime beast’ hunted down before it becomes a problem

A huge alligator spotted on a cattle ranch in South Florida was hunted down “in the name of conservation.”

A huge alligator spotted on a cattle ranch in South Florida was hunted down before it could become a problem, which appeared to be a likely scenario.

The alligator measured 12 feet, 2 inches in length and was described as a “giant” by Mike Kimmel of Martin County Trapping and Wildlife Rescue.

Kimmel guided Rick Mace on the hunt for the “once in a lifetime beast,” as detailed on the Martin County Trapping and Wildlife Rescue Facebook page.

“We knew this gator could end up being a big problem if not dealt with immediately,” Kimmel wrote. “The state and their biologists issue us tags to manage the gators on this property, and, no, relocation is not possible. It would be illegal and irresponsible. This is done because gator population control is crucial for the health of the gator population, the ecosystem and for the safety of surrounding areas.

“A gator this size can easily eat a calf or even a cow, working cow dogs are also a big concern.

“Not very long ago, Florida actually had an older woman pulled into the water and killed by a much smaller gator. These big bull gators will try to dominant the area and kill all other male gators, which becomes a problem as well.”

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Kimmel guessed the alligator’s age at between 15 and 20 years. He said “nothing will go to waste” as he detailed plans for the meat, skin and head.

“Nothing better than having the hunt of a lifetime, all in the name of Florida conservation,” Kimmel wrote.

Photo courtesy of Martin County Trapping and Wildlife Rescue.

Deputy responds to alligator call, reaction goes viral

A Florida sheriff’s deputy has gained notoriety because of his comical reaction during a close alligator encounter at a neighborhood pool.

A Florida sheriff’s deputy has gained notoriety because of his comical reaction during a close alligator encounter at a neighborhood pool.

“When working as a Deputy Sheriff for the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office there is never a dull moment!” the agency exclaimed Tuesday on Facebook. “Just ask Deputy Robert Santiago who earlier today responded to a call where an 8-foot alligator decided to try out the neighbor’s swimming pool!”

Santiago is standing next to Scott Swartley, a trapper contracted by the Sheriff’s Office to handle the tricky aspects of removing the angry reptile.

RELATED: Florida gator tears through metal fence with alarming ease; video

“I would love to know exactly what Deputy Santiago was thinking but I’m pretty sure it was…”Oh hell no I didn’t sign up for this!” the Sheriff’s Office continued.

More than 500 people responded to a request for captions. A sampling:

–“That’s what they call a rough day at work! We don’t appreciate our law enforcement officers enough. They never know what they’re going to face.”

–“They never showed me this in the academy.”

–“Bad gator, bad gator……whatcha gonna do? Brevard County Sheriffs are coming for you!”

–“I’m going to need to go home and change my uniform!”

–“If I stand perfectly still, he will think I’m a tree and leave me alone.”

–“He looks like he saw a box of Krispy Creme doughnuts on the guy’s patio table.”

Florida is home to 1.3 million alligators, which can be found in all 67 counties. Like many critters, they increase activity during spring.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the longest alligator recorded in Florida was a male from Lake Washington in Brevard County, measuring 14 feet, 3-1/2 inches.

The heaviest was a 1,043-pound male captured at Orange Lake in Alachua County.

Giant gator visits posh Florida town in another ‘Jurassic’ moment

Residents in an upscale Florida community paused activities Thursday to marvel at the sight of a giant alligator crossing the road.

Residents in an upscale Florida community paused activities Thursday to marvel at the sight of a giant alligator crossing the road.

“Check out this big boy crossing the street in the Forest Glen Community in Naples,” Matt Devitt of WINK Weather stated Saturday on Facebook.

On Instagram, Devitt titled the same footage,“Welcome to Jurassic Park!”

In the footage, captured by a WINK viewer named Catalina, the alligator ignores its admirers as it plods toward one of the neighborhood lawns on trash day.

It was the third time in a month that Devitt shared a clip showing an alligator grabbing the spotlight merely by appearing in public.

One showed a large gator plowing through a metal fence, almost effortlessly, to reach the other side.

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The other showed perhaps a larger gator sprawled on a golf course, gazing menacingly toward a photographer. Deviit also proclaimed that to be a “Jurassic” moment.

But alligators appearing in public places at this time of year should not come as a surprise. Florida is home to 1.3 million alligators and, like many critters, they increase activity as spring approaches.

But it’s always astonishing when the larger of these prehistoric-looking reptiles reveal themselves beyond marshes and swamps.

The longest alligator recorded in Florida was a male from Lake Washington in Brevard County, measuring 14 feet, 3-1/2 inches. The heaviest was a 1,043-pound male captured at Orange Lake in Alachua County.

–Image courtesy of WINK News

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Watch: Florida gator tears through metal fence with alarming ease

A Florida meteorologist has shared video footage showing an enormous alligator tearing through a metal fence to reach the other side.

Last month, a Florida weatherman shared a compelling image showing a massive alligator seemingly staring down a photographer on a golf course.

“Welcome to Florida, home to Jurassic Park,” Matt Devitt, Chief Meteorologist for WINK News, wrote on Facebook.

On Friday, Devitt shared the video footage posted below, showing another enormous gator easily breaching a metal fence to access the other side.

“Check out this big guy bend the aluminum bars and plow right through it this week in Placida,” Devitt wrote on Facebook. “He eventually got through according to the viewer who shot the video. Only in Florida!”

Devitt stressed in the comments section, which contained input from nearly 2,000 followers, that the bars were not as formidable as, say, wrought iron.

Still, many were impressed by the ease with which the gator clawed through the barrier.

“This can’t be real,” one person wrote.

The alligator’s size was not provided, but for those who might wonder, the longest alligator recorded in Florida measured 14 feet, 3-1/2 inches. The weight record is 1,043 pounds.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) states on its website that about 1.3 million alligators reside in Florida, and they inhabit all 67 counties.

The state monitors a Nuisance Alligator Hotline for those who are in need of a licensed trapper.

–Image is a video screen shot via WINK News

Large alligator discovered roaming in … Idaho?

Biologists in Idaho are in possession of a fairly large alligator that was discovered by folks out walking their dog.

Biologists in Idaho are in possession of a fairly large alligator that was discovered by folks out walking their dog.

The unidentified “reporting party” spotted the 3-1/2-foot alligator moving through bushes adjacent to a New Plymouth-area street on Oct. 20.

The reptile was captured and placed in horse trailer. Biologists with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game picked up the alligator on Oct. 21.

Alligators prefer tropical climate and cannot survive for long in the wild in Idaho. It could be that somebody had been keeping the gator as a pet.

“In all likelihood, this alligator got loose from someone, and we are interested in finding the owner,” Matt O’Connell, Regional Conservation Officer for Idaho Fish and Game, stated in a news release.

The agency added that it’s against the law to possess alligators in Idaho without proper permits.

In the news release and on Facebook, IDFG asked that anyone with helpful information telephone the Southwest Regional Office at 208-465-8465, or the Citizens Against Poaching hotline at 1-800-632-5999.

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