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A Nebraska family staying at a Disney resort in Florida was struck by tragedy yesterday (June 14) when an alligator snatched the family’s 2-year-old son and dragged him underwater, news sources reported. But despite the horrific incident, experts say it’s rare for alligators to attack people.
It wasn’t too long ago that alligators were nearly hunted into extinction. About 40 years ago, the American alligator was placed on the first endangered species list.
But through protection and resurgence in alligator farming, the alligator was removed from the list in 1987. Alligators are still listed as threatened because other reptiles that look like alligators – crocodiles and caimans – are endangered.
Although much is known about alligators, there still are a lot of myths about the reptile. Those who handle alligators know about the animal’s behavior and try to debunk those myths about alligators.
Some of those myths include:
Zigzag – If an alligator runs at you, you should run in a zigzag pattern to avoid getting caught. Alligators can reach speeds of 25 mph, so you are only going to slow your escape if you do not run straight, as fast as you can, away from an alligator.
20-foot alligators – The largest alligator ever captured was 19 feet long and that was in the early 1900s in Louisiana. Alligators usually don’t get longer than 13 feet and weigh more than 600 pounds.
Centurions – Alligators don’t live to be 100, but they do live to about 60 to 80 years in captivity and 35 to 50 years in the wild.
Don’t fence me in – Alligators have been known to climb fences to escape captivity and a fence of 4.5 feet is recommended to keep alligators out of your yard.
Aren’t they cute – Baby alligators may look cute, but they will bite the hand that feeds them. Alligators do not make very good pets and special permits are needed to be able to have any size of reptile.
The toddler’s death would be Florida’s 24th caused by an alligator attack since 1973, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the fourth involving a child under age 5. According to FWC, there were 383 unprovoked alligator attacks between 1948 and 2015, categorized as follows:
Fatal attacks: 23
Minor attacks: 126
Major attacks: 257
There have been fatal alligator attacks in 15 of Florida’s 67 counties. With three fatalities each, Lee and Charlotte counties on Florida’s southwest coast have the most deaths caused by alligators.
Agencies/Canadajournal
