Encounter With a Jr. Alligator Hunter

Since moving to Florida in 2000 I have witnessed a great many strange things. Most things are connected with Florida's wild life. For instance how many times have you gone to Home Depot and seen a woman with little live monkeys in her hair? Or the time while driving on 1-4 I see a kid jumping around in a car only to discover it's not a kid but a chimpanzee. A couple of years ago it was an armadillo that my dogs cornered causing it to bury itself under the garage. I had four police cars and officers getting the critter out and then taking pictures with the little beast. I could go on and on and I really thought I had seen it all until a couple of weeks ago.

I was heading home after a lovely lunch with my family when something caught my eye while driving. NO! I did not see that I thought. I did a quick u-turn to see it again. As I slowed down there it was. A young boy about 15 with a 3 foot alligator in his arms! He had his one arm over the gator's mouth and his other arm around the gator's body. The gator was so heavy the boy kept shifting his body. “What ya doing?” I said. The boy just shrugs. “What are you going to do with him now that you caught him?” I said. “Oh, all we do is catch and release them,” he says. I was so dumb founded at this point all I could say was “Be careful” as I drove away.

After the shock of the encounter wore off I realized I should have called Tampa PD. Other cars passed, even a Sheriff's car, but no one else stopped. It is just a miracle this kid did not get hurt. This all happened on one of the ponds on Tampa Palms Blvd. So if you are a parent in this area it might be a good time to talk to your kids on how dangerous alligators are.