We’ve lived in a house on a golf course for 30 years. Our alligators aren’t afraid of people, but they aren’t usually aggressive. I think most of the neighborhood adheres to the warnings and do not feed the gators.
Had one in our backyard, and animal control said just leave the gate open and he’ll eventually head back to the lake, which is exactly what happened.
If an alligator kills a dog or appears aggressive, they call in the gator guys and they get it out of the lake (water hazard.)
I am still amazed to see a golfer reach down into murky water to retrieve a ball.
They have no idea what’s lurking in the water, and the golfer has to know there are alligators because they litter the golf course, basking in the sun.
Our bigger problem these days are coyotes. They kill cats and smaller dogs. But it’s their aggressive behavior. One of the coyote ran toward my friend’s dog and did some major damage ramming into and biting the whole ribcage area of the 80 lb dog. Our neighborhood newspaper reports that the
coyotes have been aggressive toward the owners of the pets that are being attacked. The pet owner is trying to save their dog and the coyote turns on the
human. Next to that, a gator is no threat at all.
Sadly, Trump has figured out that it really IS hard to drain the swamp when you’re up to your ass in alligators.
If coyotes are that aggressive, kill ‘em at close range. I know, illegal to shoot in the ‘hood. But a crossbow would do the trick.
As for gators, I love that show where Cajuns go out in skiffs, set traps, dispatch snared gators with a .22 round, & attach game tags.