‘Yelp and then a splash.’ Gator eats dog, gets removed from Florida canal, residents say

Madeleine List
·2 min read
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Residents called in Florida wildlife officials after they say an alligator in a canal near their homes ate a dog and a cat.

“It was a dog yelp and then a splash, followed by a couple more splashes,” Alex Phillips, a resident of Cape Coral, told WBBH-TV in an interview on Sept. 14 . “There was an alligator with a dog in its mouth.”

Philips told the station that he later saw the alligator “wrestling with a cat.”

Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission officials got a call from a homeowner on Sept. 14 who was concerned about an alligator in the canal behind her Cape Coral home, spokeswoman Melissa Smith told McClatchy News. Cape Coral is in southwest Florida, about 130 miles south of Tampa.

A nuisance alligator trapper came out to the neighborhood and caught the alligator, which measured 7 feet 8 inches, Smith said. The animal was taken to a farm.

Smith said the agency did not have official information about the alligator attacking any pets.

The agency runs a Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program that aims to remove alligators from places where they can pose a threat to people and pets and transfer them to natural areas, according to Smith.

If someone sees an alligator and is concerned, they should call the nuisance alligator hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).

Alligators can be found living in bodies of water throughout Florida including lakes, rivers, ponds and wetlands.

Wildlife officials recommend to keep pets on leashes and away from the water’s edge. People should swim only during the day and in designated swimming areas, but pets should never swim in bodies of water where alligators can be found.

Also, the agency warns to never feed an alligator.

“It’s illegal and dangerous,” Smith wrote. “When fed, alligators can lose their natural wariness and instead learn to associate people with the availability of food. This can lead to dangerous circumstances for yourself and other people who could encounter the alligator in the future.”

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