Alligator's death stirs sympathy

Some residents along the lake at Veterans Village didn't think the reptile posed a danger and say it should not have been killed.

By STEVE THOMPSON
Published July 4, 2004

NEW PORT RICHEY - Some of the folks who live along a quiet lake in Veterans Village liken the capture and killing of a 9-foot alligator here Friday evening to a lynching.

Since the alligator left a dog half eaten here two weeks ago, trappers sent by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission had been baiting their hooks for it.

But neighbors had united to save it, putting more than 180 signatures on a petition seeking a judge's injunction against the trapper's actions.

"The wheels to save this gator were all too slow," Alex Horattas, president of the Lake George Association said Saturday. He and others were sad and angry.

"I'm going to miss him," resident Keith Beeson said. "He was a friend. He was nice. He never bothered no one."

Beeson said those who live on the lake should keep their dogs leashed. Others agreed.

"This gator had been here longer than we have," resident Cyn Frantz said. "This did not have to happen . . . . If you live on fresh water in Florida and you have animals or kids, you should take precautions."

But fish and wildlife spokesman Gary Morse said such precautions may not have been good enough in this case.

"This agency has spent the last 30 years trying to get people to realize that they can live with alligators in harmony," Morse said. "But this particular alligator was not exhibiting those behaviors which will allow that to continue."

Morse said the alligator was showing "classic symptoms of the breakdown in behavior that protects people from alligators."

His agency received a complaint in May from residents after the alligator had eaten a duck. That kill in itself would not have been an issue, he said, except that the alligator seemed to have lost its fear of humans.

"That alligator ate the duck in the presence of people," he said. "That's a red flag for us. That's not normal."

Morse said the attack on the dog confirmed the alligator's menace.

Some agree with fish and wildlife's position. Among them are Jim and Eija Oronson, who contacted the St. Petersburg Times to tell of their experience with the reptile.

"It's still a nightmare today," Eija Oronson said. She and her husband say they were attacked by the gator as they floated in an inflatable boat March 25, 2003. They gave this account:

It was a month after they had moved into their new home by the lake. Jim had to convince his wife to join him because she had heard of an alligator lurking.

"They don't attack unless provoked," he argued, and finally convinced her. He hooked an air pump to his car's cigarette lighter and pumped up the boat.

They were a half-hour into their outing on the sunny afternoon. Jim had his fishing pole, and he reeled in a good-sized bass that ended up getting away. Just after he recast his line, he felt a bump and a tug underneath him.

He looked as his wife, who sat facing him. Her face was pale. "It's a gator," she managed to say.

"I was face to face with the alligator," she told the Times. "We we're staring at each other, and I couldn't believe it was happening."

They were about 15 yards from shore, and air was escaping from the bottom of the boat.

"I just started hammering (the water) with the oar and paddling at the same time hoping to scare him and move," Jim said. "We were going nowhere fast."

Eija's paddle, meanwhile, had been knocked overboard. Figuring they were going to sink right there with the alligator circling, she leaped into the water and swam for shore. The scramble lasted only seconds, but time seemed to stand still, she said. She thought any moment the beast was going to grab her and pull her under.

The Oronsons say they have seen the alligator dozens of times since the attack. They also see kids playing in and around the water.

"It was a danger to everyone around," Jim said. "I'm glad to see him gone."

[Last modified July 4, 2004, 01:00:39]