Not All Florida Golfers Scared Of Gators
At LPGA Golf Course in the middle of wetlands, a golf cart driver Monday did a horseshoe loop to avoid hitting an alligator scooting across the fairway.
Florida golfers are so blase the big news is that gators can indeed attack people -- and have killed three women in Florida since last week.
"It must have been something bizarre (to provoke the attacks)," said Maria Lopez, a regular golfer.
Only 17 deaths had been recorded in Florida since 1948 before the most recent alligator attacks began.
First, a body of a female jogger was found Wednesday in a canal in Broward Country. On Sunday, two more victims were found. Wildlife officials are still searching for a 7- to 9-foot alligator which killed a Tennessee woman who was snorkeling in a recreation area near Lake George in Marion County. The body of a Dunedin woman found in a canal near St. Petersburg had been in the water about three days and had injuries consistent with an alligator attack.
Although such a concentration of deaths in so short a time had never been recorded in Florida, wildlife officials say there is no pattern or common element between them.
Some, though, pointed to contributing factors like an increase in aggressive behavior during mating season and the loss of natural habitat leading to more encounters between humans and alligators.
"Forget all the reasons," said Lindsey Hord, the director of the statewide alligator nuisance control program. "Alligators are predators."
While they usually seek smaller animals, "they're opportunistic," said Joy Hill, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman.
The fatalities have put people on edge.
Trapper Todd Hardwick typically gets about four nuisance alligator calls each day, but he's now getting 15 as the unprecedented burst of attacks has Floridians terrified of their giant reptilian neighbors.
People are shook up," Hardwick said just before capturing a 9-foot, 4-inch alligator Monday in a residential lake north of Miami. "It's like the citizens of Florida have declared war on alligators. People are really going crazy."
In Volusia and Flagler counties, encounters with wildlife are part of everyday life.
Richard Harris, assistant manager of Blue Spring State Park, said officials there take the usual precautions, such as removing an alligator if it's obvious that "it's attracted to people."
There were rumors of a friendly alligator, who would occasionally nudge people's boats at DeLeon Springs Sate Park, but R.T. Reynolds, assistant park manager, said that he only heard of that happening once. Reynolds said rangers patrol their waters regularly, and that they haven't had problems at the park
At a Florida golf course, some employees there have taken to calling a 10-foot alligator that lives near the 18th hole "Mo."
Golfers and gators co-exist so peacefully that the Florida golf course has not had to call a trapper in at least seven years, said golf pro Joe Giormariso. But Catherine Goodman, a tourist from Richmond, Va. wasn't taking any chances.
"I'm hitting balls away from the water on this FL golf course," she said.
Florida golfers are so blase the big news is that gators can indeed attack people -- and have killed three women in Florida since last week.
"It must have been something bizarre (to provoke the attacks)," said Maria Lopez, a regular golfer.
Only 17 deaths had been recorded in Florida since 1948 before the most recent alligator attacks began.
First, a body of a female jogger was found Wednesday in a canal in Broward Country. On Sunday, two more victims were found. Wildlife officials are still searching for a 7- to 9-foot alligator which killed a Tennessee woman who was snorkeling in a recreation area near Lake George in Marion County. The body of a Dunedin woman found in a canal near St. Petersburg had been in the water about three days and had injuries consistent with an alligator attack.
Although such a concentration of deaths in so short a time had never been recorded in Florida, wildlife officials say there is no pattern or common element between them.
Some, though, pointed to contributing factors like an increase in aggressive behavior during mating season and the loss of natural habitat leading to more encounters between humans and alligators.
"Forget all the reasons," said Lindsey Hord, the director of the statewide alligator nuisance control program. "Alligators are predators."
While they usually seek smaller animals, "they're opportunistic," said Joy Hill, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman.
The fatalities have put people on edge.
Trapper Todd Hardwick typically gets about four nuisance alligator calls each day, but he's now getting 15 as the unprecedented burst of attacks has Floridians terrified of their giant reptilian neighbors.
People are shook up," Hardwick said just before capturing a 9-foot, 4-inch alligator Monday in a residential lake north of Miami. "It's like the citizens of Florida have declared war on alligators. People are really going crazy."
In Volusia and Flagler counties, encounters with wildlife are part of everyday life.
Richard Harris, assistant manager of Blue Spring State Park, said officials there take the usual precautions, such as removing an alligator if it's obvious that "it's attracted to people."
There were rumors of a friendly alligator, who would occasionally nudge people's boats at DeLeon Springs Sate Park, but R.T. Reynolds, assistant park manager, said that he only heard of that happening once. Reynolds said rangers patrol their waters regularly, and that they haven't had problems at the park
At a Florida golf course, some employees there have taken to calling a 10-foot alligator that lives near the 18th hole "Mo."
Golfers and gators co-exist so peacefully that the Florida golf course has not had to call a trapper in at least seven years, said golf pro Joe Giormariso. But Catherine Goodman, a tourist from Richmond, Va. wasn't taking any chances.
"I'm hitting balls away from the water on this FL golf course," she said.
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