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Osprey Lakes Gator Invaders
May 17, 2006
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| On the morning
of Wednesday May, 17, two alligators were observed cruising near
our side of Osprey Lake. Upon closer examination I found
that the bait set on May15 had disappeared and the rope from the
shore was outstretched. I called Ron, the trapper who had
set the bait. He told me another neighbor had just called
him and that he was already on his way. |
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Unfortunately, the
tethered gator decided to wrap itself around our decoy and pull it
to shore. The decoy is designed to keep an irrigation pipe off
the bottom of the lake and to let boaters know to avoid that spot
for fishing.
The good
news is that the trappers helped me determine that the pipe was
still intact and a boater later helped move it back to its proper
position.
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When
the trappers arrived, they pulled their catch in (above). I believe
they said that this was their fourth catch in the day. Due to
the unseasonably dry weather and it being the mating season,
alligators are venturing out from the dry marshes looking for food
and water.
Once it was near shore, the trappers placed a noose around the neck
of the alligator and dragged it on to shore.
At right, Ron holds the noose stick tight as he prepares to pounce
on the jaw from the behind the gator's head. |
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It is much easier to hold a gators mouth shut when it wants to open
it than it is to open it when it wants it closed. The
alligator's jaw muscles are designed to clamp down hard on whatever
it has grabbed. The muscles used to open the mouth are not
nearly as strong.
At left, Ron holds the jaws of this gator shut with one hand as he
uses his teeth to pull tape with his other hand. |
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Ron makes sure the dangerous jaws are completely incapacitated by
wrapping electrical tape around the mouth many times. |
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Next, Ron
pulls the front lags back and wraps them with tape so that the
alligator cannot walk around on its own. |
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Having disabled the jaws and front legs of the alligator, the
trapper takes a moment to make sure other alligators are not too
close by. He has been advised that larger ones have been
spotted earlier. |
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At right, Ron has turned himself around on the gator to pull back
and incapacitate the alligator's back legs. |
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With it completely rendered unable to bite or walk, the noose stick
is used to drag the alligator to the trapper's truck. |
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At right, Ron's colleague pulls the alligator toward our back yard
in the direction of their truck. This one appears to be about
five feet long and we're sure we've seen larger ones that have not
yet been caught. |
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At left is one of the larger alligator's that the trappers caught
earlier in the day. The larger one has been shot and is dead.
Once it was captured, the trappers discovered that it's left front
leg had once been bitten off and bone was sticking out from it's
right front paw. This alligator has had some rough moments in
its past. |
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Here is a closer look at the boom box used to lure alligators to
shore with recorded distress calls. This was used on
May 12th
and as soon as they pressed PLAY, three alligators were spotted
heading for the source of the sound.
This ploy was attempted again but the larger alligators seemed to
not be fooled and none came to investigate. |
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At right is a closer look at the rod and reel used to crank an
alligator to shore. |
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The hook used to snag the alligator and pull it in is shown at left. |
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Another tool that is used is this hook shown at right. The
hook itself is laying in the grass at the top of the stick. |
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A
closer look at the hook is at left. The tool enables one
trapper assist pulling an alligator close to shore while the other
uses the rod and reel. |
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Since the sound effect tactic failed to convince any additional alligators to
come and investigate, the trappers baited another trap with a cow
lung. |
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The lung is taken to the edge of the lake. |
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Using nearby twigs, the lung is propped up so that other creatures
in the lake are unable to reach it. |
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A neighbor inspects the size of one of the alligators in the
trapper's truck. Counting the one removed from Osprey Lake,
there are three alligators in the bed of the truck. A larger
fourth one has already been caught and delivered by the trappers
earlier in the day. |
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At left is a closer view of the alligator removed on this morning
from Osprey Lake. |
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Trapper Ron inspects a $700 pair of crocodile boots displayed by a
neighbor. The alligators caught by the trappers will be fully
used. The meat is considered a delicacy by many and the hide
will be used to make durable products such as boots, belts, wallets
and purses. |
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I'll
post additional photos and story if we see more activity over the
next few days. In the meantime,
Gatorland is
a much underrated Orlando area attraction. It's actually a
very nice place to spend an afternoon and they have a lot more to
enjoy than just a pool of large hungry gators. The image at
left was taken at that location. |
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