Monday 16 May 2011

Alligator takes a weekend trip to Marco beach - naplesnews.com

May 16 2011

— They’ve turned up in swimming pools, front porches — even a Florida woman’s bathroom earlier this year.

This weekend it was Marco Island’s turn for a reptilian close encounter.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Marco Island police captured a 6-foot alligator Saturday afternoon in the surf in front of the Admiralty House condominium, south of Tigertail Beach. The animal was relocated, FWC spokeswoman Gabriella Ferraro said.

While they don’t live in the Gulf of Mexico, alligators can accidentally find their way there looking for food or a new home as the weather warms, experts say. A trip to the Gulf is more likely when tidal streams and bays are less saline after rainstorms.

An alligator on Marco’s beach thrilled onlookers, including a visitor from Louisville who snapped pictures of the capture.

“I have been coming to Marco Island for 35 years and have never seen this happen,” Joanie Echsner wrote in an email.


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