Looking to Rid Nuisance Animals: After an Increase in Complaints About Alligator Sightings in Nearby Lakes and Canals, the Town is Looking into the Possibility of Hiring a Private Firm

By Laura Figueroa, The Miami Herald

Jun. 28–There are predators passing by Karen Sanders’ backyard and she has the pictures to prove it.

Sanders, who lives in the Lake Martha community, keeps a folder filled with photos of alligators who have been spotted in the canal.

With folder in hand, Sanders implored town council members at the June 12 council meeting to provide more assistance with the removal of alligators in town lakes and canals, when the state can’t help out.

“My heart is stopping everytime I do this,” Sanders said of stepping to the edge of her backyard to capture photos of the reptiles, which she distributes to neighbors as warning signs.

Residents of Lake Martha and other water-front communities may receive more assistance in the form of a complaint hotline, after the town council unanimously approved a measure authorizing Town Manager Alex Rey to look into setting up a hotline for alligator complaints. The measure, proposed by Mayor Wayne Slaton, would also fund the removal of gators that the Florida Wildlife Commission come up short.

“I think any gator left to roam is a potential threat,” Slaton wrote in a memo to the council.

Typically if an alligator is spotted, the Florida Wildlife Commission will dispatch a “nuisance alligator trapper” to determine just how big a threat the gator is,” said Henry Cabbage, spokesman for the Wildlife Commission.

In order for the alligator to be removed it must be at least four feet long, according to wildlife commission requirements.

If it is smaller, it is up to the municipality or property owner to remove or relocate the gator, Cabbage said.

Often both the Florida Wildlife Commission and property owners turn to Pesky Critters, an area firm that removes unwanted animals from properties.

Last month, Pesky Critters removed two alligators from a Miami Lakes canal along the Palmetto Expressway.

But before Miami Lakes can go ahead with contracting a private firm to remove or relocate the alligators, the town would still have to seek permission from the state to allow for “targeted harvesting,” of the reptiles, said Todd Hardwick, owner of Pesky Critters.

“Right now, the way the rules work is if there’s an alligator in Lake A, but they swam to Lake B, we’re only allowed to look in Lake A,” Hardwick said. “But if the city requested to be a targeted harvest area this would improve a trapper’s ability to capture it.”

Councilman Robert Meador also directed Rey to work with the South Florida Water Management District to determine if it was possible to build a fence along the canal on Northwest 138th Street to keep the gators from crossing into Lake Martha.

“The proposal has some teeth to it,” Meador said. “This would add some fangs.”

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