Cops Find Alligator With Human Body In Its Mouth

[Tom Joad]

I know this lake. It's not far from where I used to live. And it's right in the middle of Town.

There are thousand of alligators in the lakes in Central Florida. I saw them all the time when I lived there. But for the most part they are shy of humans. For good reason. They were slaughtered to the brink of extinction for their hides and meat back in the day. They've made a big comeback since coming under protection.

Ironic that the Police Department's spokeman's last name is "Gross".

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b08f74f6c0a330

Police responding to a 911 call in Lakeland, Florida, Tuesday discovered an alligator with a human corpse in its jaws, police say.

The alligator eventually released the body and could be spotted swimming around Lake Hunter for another hour, the Lakeland Police Department wrote on its Facebook page.

The body is a male of unknown age and appears to have been in the water for more than 24 hours, police noted.

“It appears – prematurely, a little early – that maybe this body was in the lake more than a day from looking at the body,” Sgt. Gary Gross said in a Periscope video from the scene. “It doesn’t appear to have just occurred.”

Detectives searched the area for clues to the man’s identity and his body was taken to the Medical Examiner’s to determine the cause of death. Fish and wildlife authorities arrived on the scene in an attempt to trap the alligator, Gross added in the Periscope clip.

A witness said the man appeared to be missing an arm and a leg, NBC News reported. Gross told the outlet there were no reports of anyone missing in the area.

Lakeland PD noted on FB that it had received calls in previous days about stray clothing floating in the lake, an aggressive alligator by the Lake Hunter boat ramp, and a sighting of an alligator circling something large — but it was not immediately clear whether those reports were related.

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by Tom Joad

I know this lake. It's not far from where I used to live. And it's right in the middle of Town.

There are thousand of alligators in the lakes in Central Florida. I saw them all the time when I lived there. But for the most part they are shy of humans. For good reason. They were slaughtered to the brink of extinction for their hides and meat back in the day. They've made a big comeback since coming under protection.

Ironic that the Police Department's spokeman's last name is "Gross".

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b08f74f6c0a330

I believe this protection has gone too far.

Sometimes I visit Central Florida and there I noticed they have mini ponds in the middle of housing developments.

While driving down a main street in The Poinciana/Kissimmee area I noticed a very large gator sunning himself near the side of the road.

The animal lovers have really gone nuts there.

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by Dondilion

While driving down a main street in The Poinciana/Kissimmee area I noticed a very large gator sunning himself near the side of the road.

Back in the early 90's I used to take my kids out to the Poinciana area to practice shooting. It was subdivided and the streets were laid out, but there were hardly any houses built yet. I had a little .22 Ruger Mark II back then. We'd set up some targets, start shooting and right away you'd start hearing this rattling sound coming from all the rattlesnake dens. They were all over the place. I imagine when they built the houses they slaughtered them wholesale. When I was a kid there were rattlesnakes all over the fucking pace. Now you hardly ever see one.

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by Tom Joad

Back in the early 90's I used to take my kids out to the Poinciana area to practice shooting. It was subdivided and the streets were laid out, but there were hardly any houses built yet. I had a little .22 Ruger Mark II back then. We'd set up some targets, start shooting and right away you'd start hearing this rattling sound coming from all the rattlesnake dens. They were all over the place. I imagine when they built the houses they slaughtered them wholesale. When I was a kid there were rattlesnakes all over the fucking pace. Now you hardly ever see one.

In the 90's! Damn!

Poinciana has really changed. It has morning and evening traffic jams.
The houses seemed to be still reasonably priced.

It appears a good job was done on the rattlesnakes. The gators, however, need areas reserve for them. I cannot understand this degree of love for gators so much that conservationist insist on putting and keeping them among the residents.

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by Dondilion

In the 90's! Damn!

Poinciana has really changed. It has morning and evening traffic jams.
The houses seemed to be still reasonably priced.

It appears a good job was done on the rattlesnakes. The gators, however, need areas reserve for them. I cannot understand this degree of love for gators so much that conservationist insist on putting and keeping them among the residents.

It was very early 90's.

Like 1991 and 92.

According to this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poinciana,_Florida

The population was about 8,000 in 1994.

And by 2010 it was 53,000.

Florida is a crazy assed place for development.

I've know plenty of people that brought houses out in the "country" and within 5 years they find themselves smack dab in the middle of suburbia.

[Dondilion]

Yesterday: Toddler grabbed by gator at Disney, Orlando.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/child-drag...ry?id=39863870

The state of Florida has 1.3 million gators.

[donquixote99]

After no kid after hours of searching, cop spokesman remained 'optimisitc.' Real PR pro, that one.

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by Dondilion

Yesterday: Toddler grabbed by gator at Disney, Orlando.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/child-drag...ry?id=39863870

The state of Florida has 1.3 million gators.

This is highly unusual for an Alligator.

In fact, I've never heard of anything like this.

I've heard of rare occasions where they would take a dog off the bank, but never a kid.

But I have seen people do really stupid things.

Like feeding them.

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by donquixote99

After no kid after hours of searching, cop spokesman remained 'optimisitc.' Real PR pro, that one.

Yeah, it doesn't sound good at all.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Tom Joad

This is highly unusual for an Alligator.

In fact, I've never heard of anything like this.

I've heard of rare occasions where they would take a dog off the bank, but never a kid.

But I have seen people do really stupid things.

Like feeding them.

Because things like this happen when animals lose their fear of humans and begin to associate us with food.