Pint-Sized Gator Takes Stroll Through Temple Terrace

TEMPLE TERRACE, FL – A little alligator with big travel plans was brought into custody by the Temple Terrace Police Department Friday morning.

According to the agency, the creature was out and about, stretching its legs in an area no gator should roam for its own safety.

“The little guy was moseying around the area of Belle View Avenue when he was spotted by a nearby resident,” the police department explained on Facebook. Since the creature was pint-sized, it was decided to let it go with a warning.

It seems K9 Officer Rick Scilabro simply wrangled the little gator personally. The baby alligator was brought it back to water where it would be safer.

Whether the alligator will one day grow as big as another Florida reptile making national news of late remains unseen. That gator, a behemoth estimated to be about 15 feet in length, has been causing quite a stir with his propensity for taking walks along the greens at Palmetto’s Buffalo Creek Golf Club.

See Also:

• Watch: Behemoth Gator Strolls Across Florida Golf Course
• Monster Gator Invades Florida Golf Course
• Gator Bites Off Arm Of Man Hiding From Cops
• Gator Chomps On Hunter’s Thumbs

Warmer weather is the signal for alligators—big and small—throughout Florida to get up and stretch their legs. This, in turn, tends to produce a fair amount of human-and-gator encounters. Not all of them end with cool video footage and a great tale for golfers to share with their friends, however.

Not too long ago, a Lakeland man lost an arm after diving into a pond to hide from police. A licensed trapper also had his thumbs chomped on by a gator he thought had been incapacitated. Reports of gators strolling up to front doors in suburban neighborhoods are also starting to roll in as the temperatures rise.

“All reptiles are more active in the warmer months,” FWC spokesman Gary Morse said in a previous interview. “That’s just the coldblooded creatures’ (way). Their metabolism increases and they do become active.”

That increase in activity can lead to an increase in encounters with humans as gators take advantage of this time of year to stretch their legs and see if the grass is greener on the other side of the pond. Alligator activity tends to rise so much in the warmer months that the state has set up its own hotline to field nuisance alligator calls. 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.

So, what should folks do if they encounter a gator and how can they avoid running into one in the first place?

“If you see an alligator, appreciate it from a distance,” Morse recommended.

Photos courtesy of the Temple Terrace Police Department’s Facebook page

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