Nuisance alligators on the rise in Florida
With April comes the start of alligator mating season, meaning more aggressive gators on the prowl, and that’s not sitting well with residents of the Sunshine State. Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Commission says over 7,000 nuisance alligators had to be killed or relocated last year, compared to 6,700 in 2017.
A huge alligator put up quite a fight when animal control workers tried to remove it from a South Carolina neighborhood on Tuesday.
A series of videos posted on Facebook showed the 10-foot, 2-inch alligator fighting against three men in the Murrells Inlet, S.C., neighborhood.
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Josh Neidig, who lives in the neighborhood, posted the videos online.
According to WBTW, men from the wildlife and reptile removal service known as the Snake Chaser were called in to take care of the gator, with help from officers with the Horry County Police and South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
In the first video, which was taken by Bridgett Hamrick and posted on Facebook by Neidig, the alligator is clearly angry, fighting against the wranglers.
“He’s mad,” one person could be heard saying.
The wranglers were then seen dragging the gator from the front yard to the back.
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On the way, the alligator was filmed fighting against the ropes with its jaws open, even rolling in the grass to try to get free.
The crowd of adults and children watching could be heard commenting, with someone saying: “You don’t want to see what that barrel roll looks like up close.”
The second video showed an apparently tiring gator, as the wranglers tried to get a rope around its jaw.
Despite their initial success, the gator managed to get the rope off. However, in the third video, one of the wranglers could be seen on top of the gator as two others taped its mouth shut.
Neidig was told by officers the alligator would be released back into a local river, WBTV reported.
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Warm weather means mating season for alligators, which leads them to stray farther from the water than usual. According to the South Carolina DNR, alligators begin courting in April and breed in late May and early June.
Warmer weather also revs up the prehistoric predators' metabolism, making them more active and aggressive as they hunt for prey and mate in the coastal South.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recommends not swimming during dusk or dawn, an alligator’s most active hours, keeping animals on a leash and away from water and keeping a safe distance away from the animal.
Fox News' Allie Raffa contributed to this report.