Copycat Gator Pays Home a Visit

Alligators are not generally welcomed house guests, but it seems Hillsborough County’s reptilian population hasn’t gotten the memo.

For the second time in less than a week, an alligator decided to pay a homeowner a visit. While the first knocking gator strolled out of a pond in the Lutz area to pay a family a visit in the middle of the night, this time it was New Tampa residents who received an alarming wakeup at 3 a.m. Monday.

“Somebody forgot to tell this gator in New Tampa that trick or treating was two weeks ago,” the Tampa Police Department joked on its Facebook page. “No candy for this guy.”

The critter did get to take a ride though. A trapper, the police department reported, was called in to the Compton Park home to escort the unwanted guest to an alligator far in a nearby county.

Last Thursday, a similar incident unfolded in the Lutz community of Heritage Harbor. In that case, a 9 ½ gator strolled up to a door around 1 a.m. and made his presence known. The bull alligator had to be removed by a trapper and was ultimately put down.

Roaming alligators are not entirely uncommon in Florida during warmer weather.

“All reptiles are more active in the warmer months,” Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Gary Morse told Patch in an earlier interview. “That’s just the cold-blooded creatures’ (way). Their metabolism increases and they do become active.”

See Also:

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That increase in activity can lead to an increase in encounters with humans as gators take advantage of warm weather to stretch their legs and see if the grass is greener on the other side of the pond.

While November generally brings cooler temperatures that might lead to a reduction in reptile activity, this hasn’t been an average November for Tampa Bay. The region witnessed a record-breaking high of 92 degrees Nov. 4.

Human and alligator encounters normally end without incident, as was the case in both recent house visits. That is not always so, however. In late October, a 62-year-old man was killed by an alligator while swimming in the waters of Blue Springs State park.

Between 1948 and 2013, there were 22 fatalities recorded, according to FWC records. During that period, a total of 122 minor bites and 235 major bites were logged. The last fatal alligator attack on record prior to this October’s death occurred in 2007.

To help residents deal with unruly alligators, the state has set up its own hotline to accept calls about nuisance critters. That number is 1-866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).

In 2013 alone, the state fielded 15,036 nuisance alligator calls, which resulted in the removal of 6,605 creatures.

Photos courtesy of the Tampa Police Department