Nuisance alligators on hit list in Lakewood Ranch

Lakewood Ranch has recently been given the green light on an alligator removal permit.

The town says it will help remove “nuisance alligators” more efficiently.

David Hasler has lived in Lakewood Ranch for 10 years. When his granddaughter Hailey Thorp comes to visit, they love watching for alligators.

"I enjoy seeing them I get a kick out of them," Hasler said.

“The baby ones they are not really that big," said Thorp, 8. "And when you get too close to them, they don’t want people to see them so they kind of just go into the lake."

However, Hasler says they have seen fewer of them.

“The first couple of years we saw alligators almost daily," he said. "Over time it’s become pretty rare. I think I’m lucky to see one every month or every other month.”

Some Lakewood Ranch residents feel that there are still too many and that the gators are a safety threat, and so they have been taking it upon themselves to call trappers. 

Recently Florida Fish and Wildlife approved a Targeted Harvest Permit that allows the town to set up guidelines to deal with the alligator population.

FWC says the new permit allows Lakewood Ranch to better manage the gator tracking process and set guidelines for trappers, making sure that trapping is documented and done by licensed trappers.

Hasler has pictures of a trapping that took place right behind his house.

“It was a pretty big gator. I’m going to guess it was about 7 feet and I have no idea if it was an approved trapper," he said. "I have no idea who called them. I just saw him take the alligator and he did it by snagging the alligator on its side with a hook.”

FWC spokesman Gary Morse says the new permit determines when they should be removed.

“It facilitates the removal of that alligator but it also protects alligators from unnecessary removal," he said.

To date there have not been any evidence of alligator attacks in Lakewood Ranch. According to the FWC, Lakewood Ranch has no more of an alligator problem then anywhere else in Florida. The FWC issues Targeted Harvest Area Permits on a case-by-case basis.