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Man defending neighbor kills alligator in Loxahatchee

Clay Davenport

Clay Davenport

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I'd like to know the nature of the warning. Was it a legal warning, or just a warning that getting that close to a gator wasn't safe?

A man shot and killed an alligator that was reportedly threatening his neighbor.

Sky Budin, 39, told authorities his neighbor called him Tuesday morning about a 5-foot alligator menacing her three dogs in the yard.

By the time Budin arrived, Kimberly Jackson was fending off the reptile with a pitchfork.

"I don't know that there was time to think," Budin said. "Most of all, I didn't want anything to happen to Kim."

Budin shot the gator twice in the head, said Dani Moschella, spokeswoman for Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Its body was turned over to a trapper and Budin was given a warning.

"I'm sure this was a hectic situation," Moschella said. "But this is not something we recommend."

An alligator can become more aggressive and attack if it's not killed immediately, Moschella added.

Bodin said he loves animals and didn't want to kill the alligator.

"But it was him or us," he said.

Link
 
An alligator can become more aggressive and attack if it's not killed immediately
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Id like to know where they got that idea from, from what Ive read, alligators usually try and get away before fighting, unless its for food.

I dont see why killing the endangered american alligator was a resonable response. The women wasnt in danger, her dogs were, and a 5 foot alligator isnt as big as they make it sound. I believe they could have saved both the alligator and the dogs if maybe they would have thought about it before they ran and got their guns.
 
RosterImposter said:
Id like to know where they got that idea from, from what Ive read, alligators usually try and get away before fighting, unless its for food.
I dont see why killing the endangered american alligator was a resonable response. The women wasnt in danger, her dogs were, and a 5 foot alligator isnt as big as they make it sound. I believe they could have saved both the alligator and the dogs if maybe they would have thought about it before they ran and got their guns.
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I have been around them all of my life. Alligators are fine if they are 100% wild. But when fed by humans, they loose all fear. They are in several places that I fish in here. Some of these places are where the have been fed by people. At these sites they are very pesky at best. I could see one acting in a manner consistent with the story above. That said, if FFWC would have been called about this gator, the results would have been the same. In Florida, any problem gator over three feet in total length must be humanely killed. So it still would have been killed either way.
 
I dont see why killing the endangered american alligator
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I am not trying to defend what this guy did because being so afraid of a 5 ft alligator seems ridiculous. But I don't think they are endangered. You may be thinking of the American Crocodile.
 
no matter what Loxahatchee is a game

preserve if I remember correctly as I have been there and a sanctuary for the American Alligator while no longer and haven't been on a listed animal for more than a decade but still within the game preserve and possible out areas of the preserve. >>>>>>>>?
 
"But it was him or us," he said.

In a pigs eye. A 5' Alligator wasn't threatening anybody. All you idiots had to do was walk away and call the dogs. Then use your head and call a trapper or someone with the wildlife dept.

Running to get your gun so you can kill an animal, wow, what a little man you are.
 
Just in case everyone forgot whats been going on down here recently.
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80278&highlight=alligator
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80087&highlight=alligator

I believe if you do a search there where over 3 deaths from attacks within the last couple of months here in FL. The links are a couple of threads about that posted here on the Herps In The News Forum.

A person has a legal right to protect there person, or property. The Gator was in there yard, and they felt threatend. With all the stuff in the news and papers about gators killing people i believe a little fear is understandable.

I helped an FWC Trapper catch one on the jobsite awhile back. He told me that any gator over 4' was not relocated but killed. The gator would have suffered the same fate either way.
 
They live in FLORIDA, right? Where there are alligators?

Is the yard fenced? Did the alligator climb the fence to get in the yard? Can you not just call your dogs inside?

I'm not some screamin' PETA member claiming that the alligator's life is just as valuable as the human's (or dogs') life, but to me it would seem that if you live in an area heavily populated by alligators, you'd figure out a realistic way of dealing with them other than a gun.

I live in an area overrun with copperheads, cottonmouths, pygmy rattlesnakes, etc. I've yet to kill anything. I've relocated them, I've made sure I don't go outside barefoot, I've checked the yard before allowing my dogs/grandkids out to play, but I haven't killed anything.

If you don't want to learn how to deal with these animals, move to Wisconsin.
 
ms_terese said:
They live in FLORIDA, right? Where there are alligators?

I live in an area overrun with copperheads, cottonmouths, pygmy rattlesnakes, etc. I've yet to kill anything. I've relocated them, I've made sure I don't go outside barefoot, I've checked the yard before allowing my dogs/grandkids out to play, but I haven't killed anything.

.
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Well.....while it sounds good on paper, a 5 ft cottonmouth doesn't remove your arm from the elbow down. Nor does it AGGRESSIVELY protect its nest during breeding season. Nor does it look for easy meals when injured that can easily be the size of a child. If you don't live around a large predator, that at times can be unpredictable and aggressive, and can eat you, then please refrain from inflamatory comments. Yes, for those of us that live around alligators, we have learned how to cohabitate with them. But as stated before, thay can be very aggressive and unpredictable, especially during times of drought, as Florida is experiencing now. Waterholes have dried up and food is more scarce. So, you have 2 factors right now; 1) Breeding/Nesting Season 2) Drought. Please remember, we are talking about an animal that can maim you for life! There is no antivemon for an Alligator bite.
 
Here is a picture. I think it speaks for it self.
 
Whether it was the neighbor or a trapper, the end result would be exactly the same. A 5' nuisance alligator is not relocatable and is culled. In this case, the neighbor merely did the trapper's job for him.

Waiting for FWC to send a trapper in a situation such as theirs is a crap shoot. This is a busy time of year for trappers, and calls for service are not necessarily responded to promptly. The nature of the call must first be evaluated by FWC before a harvest permit is issued to the trapper, assuming a trapper is available at that moment in time.

Incidents involving alligators, many of which don't get national attention, are relatively common down here. One of the ways of dealing with nuisance alligators is to cull them, as they represent a legitimate threat to public safety. Not to single Ms. Terese out, but a fenced yard is a rather ineffective way of dealing with nuisance gators. They are quite adept at climbing chain link fencing and can burrow under other fences.
 
Ken Harbart said:
Whether it was the neighbor or a trapper, the end result would be exactly the same. A 5' nuisance alligator is not relocatable and is culled. In this case, the neighbor merely did the trapper's job for him.

Waiting for FWC to send a trapper in a situation such as theirs is a crap shoot. This is a busy time of year for trappers, and calls for service are not necessarily responded to promptly. The nature of the call must first be evaluated by FWC before a harvest permit is issued to the trapper, assuming a trapper is available at that moment in time.

Incidents involving alligators, many of which don't get national attention, are relatively common down here. One of the ways of dealing with nuisance alligators is to cull them, as they represent a legitimate threat to public safety. Not to single Ms. Terese out, but a fenced yard is a rather ineffective way of dealing with nuisance gators. They are quite adept at climbing chain link fencing and can burrow under other fences.
Click to expand...

Also, As I stated before. These problem gators did not get this way on their own. People feed them, this is why they become a problem. Wild gators avoid humans.

We had a super nice adult male here. He was at our state park (St Andrews state park) for many years. He was just over eleven foot long. He was killed by park rangers because he became a problem. The only reason he became a problem, was the fact that he was being fed by tourists. They wanted to get good pictures to carry back home. Every time he seen people, he would go to them looking for a hand out. I will also say, with many signs stating: ( DO NOT FEED THE GATORS.)


We still have a bunch of gators there, but none of them are as large as him. And I look for many of them to have the same fate as this one. People do not understand that they are killing them when they feed them.
 
OK, maybe I need to walk in mile in someone's shoes (or swamp) first. It just doesn't jibe with me that if an alligator is on your property, the homeowner goes outside to protect the dogs rather than call the dogs in, and then the neighbor comes over and shoots the gator (to protect the homeowner) rather than just EVERYONE going inside.

Anyway, I'll leave the alligator debates to those of you who have to consider those things. I'll probably not have to consider those things down here in the Ozarks.

BTW, Bobby, very cool picture....do you know the background on it?
 
Sorry Terese, but I do not know where it came from. I had a friend that email it to me, with the heading of: "Why we lock our doors in Florida". So I have no clue where the picture originally came from.
 
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