Gators are neighbors, too

LAKEWOOD RANCH — When Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club resident Ronald Jarvis moved to a new home behind a lake on the golf course, he knew there would be wildlife — alligators, bobcats, hawks and eagles.

But Jarvis now is concerned for one creature, in particular, as well as its species as a whole. He has nicknamed the 8-foot-long gator that frequents his backyard pond “Big Al.”

“I’ve watched him for three-and-a-half or four years swim from one pond to the other,” Jarvis said. “I don’t know all the gators, but I know this one.

“He has a girlfriend out there, by the way,” he added. “You see them out there playing. It’s hysterical.”

But as Jarvis pointed out to Lakewood Ranch Community Development District 2, 5 and 6 supervisors last month, the community does not have a clear policy in place to prevent gators from being unnecessarily trapped and killed.

“We need a policy in Lakewood Ranch that will allow alligators and humans to co-exist,” Jarvis said. “Alligators are part of our landscape. They are a part of our ecosystem. Alligators are not a threat to us.”
The conversation emerged after Jarvis received an email about six weeks ago about a big gator in his Portmarnock community. Through a thread of emails, discussions of calling a trapper emerged.

“Big Al had crossed the road from one pond to the other and he was lying on someone’s driveway,” Jarvis said. “Some people were afraid.”

But, Jarvis contends, Big Al was simply changing venues and resting along the way. Although the gator did not behave aggressively, trappers now seek to take his life.

Ryan Heise, Lakewood Ranch’s director of operations, said currently Lakewood Ranch Town Hall grants blanket approval to requests by Florida Fish and Wildlife to allow trappers on the property, per prior legal opinions.

Per the process, if a resident calls the operations department, staff notifies the resident that calling Fish and Wildlife will trigger removal of the gator. If the resident pursues the option, the department authorizes trappers to remove and kill the alligator, although there is no guarantee the trapper will catch the targeted reptile.

Tracie Hunt, the field office manager, said she receives at least one call about a nuisance gator per week — more in March, the start of mating season.

Heise said there’s a divide between residents — those who worry for the safety of pets and family members and others who recognize alligators are native and docile.

He noted there has never been a gator attack on humans in Lakewood Ranch and there’s only two rumored instances in which alligators attacked dogs who were swimming off leash in the ponds.

The districts’ attorney, Andy Cohen, is researching case law on the concept, and plans to bring the information and potential recommendations back to the boards at their Dec. 18 meetings.

Jarvis, meanwhile, points to the University Park community as an example of good gator policies. A community bulletin produced by Community Management Systems encourages residents to be aware of their surroundings and leave alligators alone.

It also defines aggressive alligator behavior as: stalking people, coming up to your pool cage during your enjoyment of the same, entering your garage or door entry area or another threat.

“If left alone, alligators will eventually retreat to more preferred, isolated areas away from people,” the bulletin states.

Jarvis contends that Ranch residents pull over to make space for sandhill cranes or to return turtles to ponds. He says alligators should be treated with the same attitude.

He pulls out the deeds and covenants that include a page that reads: “Alligators will only be removed if they pose a threat to humans or property.”

“I don’t think we’re holding up to the CDD community covenants and restrictions,” Jarvis said. “A lot of people don’t realize they don’t relocate the gators. I don’t want to see all gators taken out of Lakewood Ranch.”

Happy for gators
Inter-District Authority Board Executive Assistant Kay DePaolo instigated the naming of alligators in Lake Uihlein, “Happy.”

She’d encourage her colleagues to come view the gator as he swam in the pond outside their windows at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall.

“He would make us happy when we saw him because we like gators,” DePaolo said, adding Happy has changed over the years because of the activity of trappers. “But, we don’t want to think about that, so every gator in Lake Uihlein we call Happy.

“I’m glad they’re reconsidering it,” she said of a possible Ranch gator policy. “I don’t like to see gators hauled off for no reason.”