Don't Feed the Gators

Some Florida airboat captains have been arrested for feeding alligators to impress the tourists. (News source.)

West Nile and Gator Farming

The Louisiana alligator conservation program has to deal with west nile virus problems... (News source.)

Crocodilians in the News

South African crocs are being hit with a mystery ailment. (News source.)

Sri Lanka officials seized crocodile meat from a poacher. (News source.)

Alligator egg collection for Florida's alligator farms is in progress. (News source.)

OOP Reptiles

A few of the more significant finds recently:

A reticulated python in Maine. (News source.)

A small alligator caught in Illinois. (News source.)

A gator reported in Horsham, PA. (News source.)

Croc News

A Florida man was caught poaching alligator eggs. (News source.)

A Bangladesh crocodile farm is becoming successful. (News source.)

Gator Takes Arm

An 18-year old man lost an arm to an alligator while swimming in an Okeechobee Co., FL, canal. (News source.)

Crocodilian News

A Texas man tries to find a new home for his 5-foot illegal alligator. (News source.)

China is reporting (for some reason) the sighting of some Chinese alligators in the wild. (News source.)

Two gharials were spotted 30km from the Tata Steel Zoological Park (in India ), where they escaped during flooding. (News source.)

An Australian man was fortunate enough to fight off an attack by a 15-foot saltwater crocodile. (News source.)

Baby Nile crocodiles synchronize their hatching by chattering to each other beforehand. (News source.)

Gator Fiasco

Three Volusia Co., FL, deputies responded to a gator call, decided to jump the 8-foot gator, and one got bit badly. So, another deputy shot it. The deputies have been reprimanded. (News source.)

MD: OOP Gator

A small alligator was fished out of an Anne Arundel Co. golf course pond. (News source.)

Croc Issues

Crocodiles are dying at Kruger National Park, investigations underway. (News source.)

Cane toads are killing freshwater crocs in Australia. (News source.)

A dog that survived a gator attack died from bite-related infections. (News source.)

Gator Politics in NC

A fight is brewing in North Carolina, between the police force in Leland and state wildlife officials, over the shooting of an 11-foot gator that was blocking a road. The police claim they had no alternative, that wildlife officers didn't bother to arrive before the next morning. A NC WRC officer says they weren't called until after the gator was dead, and the shooting was illegal... (News source.)

Florida Gator Hunting

Here is a column on gator hunting in Florida, as the upcoming season's permits come available soon.

Missouri Gator Capture

A small alligator was found and captured in a Leavenworth creek. (News source.)

Gator Attack

A 6-foot gator bit a man's hand at Lake Trafford, near Naples, when the man was wading in the water. (News source.)

Gator Bites Teen

One of two Vernon, Florida, teens who tried to move a 4-foot gator from a yard was bitten. The other teen stabbed the alligator until it released. The animal was euthanized due to the injuries. (News source.)

Update on Man Found Dead in Canal

The Polk County, FL, discovery of a man in a canal was not an alligator attack. The autopsy confirmed the man drowned, and the alligator only ate parts after the man was dead. (News source.)

Three "Caiman" in Brooklyn

A jogger turned in three small crocodilians he said he found in Spring Creek Park. The Animal Care and Control Shelter was suspicious, but took them in. And, they misidentified them as caiman: the photo clearly show three juvenile American alligators. (News source.)

Possible Gator Attack

A dead man was found floating in a Polk Co., FL, canal, with a gator nearby. No details yet on whether the gator was involved or not. (News source.)

Gator Poaching Videotaped

A Florida man and teenager were videotaped illegally capturing a 7-foot gator by a passer-by. Police caught up with them, and the gator relocated. (News source.)

Gator vs Deputy

A Volusia County, FL, sheriff's deputy attempted to round up a stray 8-foot alligator, and ended up getting bit on the leg. Another deputy shot at it a few times and managed to get the leg free, and a trapper eventually arrived to restrain and shoot the animal. (News source.)

Croc Farming

Zimbabwe is encouraging farmers to raise crocodiles commercially. (News source.)

Toy Kills Gator

A 9-foot gator in the Florida Keys died after eating a plastic toy turtle, which lodged in its digestive tract. (News source.)

Oscar Returns

The late Oscar, a 14-foot alligator that inhabited Okefenokee Swamp Park, will be mounted (skeleton only) for display to park visitors. (News source.)

Crocodilian News

A Florida golf ball diver was attacked by a 10+ foot alligator, managing to barely escape with a broken arm and crushed shoulder. (News source.)

A 3-foot crocodilian was reported from Swansea lake, in the UK. (News source.)

A hunt for gharials in Pakistan didn't locate any of the species. They may have been wiped out by hunters. (News source.)

NH Gator Sighting

A New Hampshire fisherman says he hooked a 5-foot alligator, but wasn't able to reel it in. Police are checking the pond. (News source.)

Herp Ringtones

ENature is offering a few wildlife ringtones, including some herp calls...

Gator Blood Fights Disease

Proteins from the blood of alligators may find their way into human medicine. Medical researchers are looking for ways to harness gators' strong immunological resistance in future medical treatments. (News source.)

Crocodilian News

A Japanese aquarium has a dwarf caiman that entertains crowds by standing on its hind legs when water is poured on it. (Reminiscent of a waterfall?) (News source.)

Here is a profile on a South Carolina alligator wrangler, who captures problem gators.

And an article on South Carolina's new alligator hunting season. (News source.)

Europe's Albino Alligator

The only albino alligator in captivity in Europe is profiled here.

Gatorama

Here is a profile of the Florida attraction, Gatorama.

Gator News

Shifting lungs allows alligators to be agile and quick underwater. (News source.)

Two suspects in the vandalism at St. Augustine Alligator Farm have been caught. (News source.)

Why?

A (naked) man was taken into custody when he was found stalking an alligator in a pond. This wasn't his first incident with gators. He had been rescued from the jaws of an alligator two years earlier. (News source.)

Alligator Bite

A Seminole Tribe employee was bitten by a 7-foot gator, losing a thumb, when he tried to move the reptile. Surgeons are attempting to reconnect the thumb. (News source.)

Everglades Alligator Farm

Here is a profile on the Everglades Alligator Farm.

Crocodopolis: World Record Crocs

The online magazine, Crocodopolis, has announced the Crocodilian World Records Project, with the first phase focusing on record alligators. For details, go here.

No Dogs Allowed (Off Leash)

A Florida woman (originally from Ohio) didn't realize the dangers of letting her small Cairn terrier off leash near fresh water. The dog ran towards the water and jumped in, and was promptly eaten by a resident alligator. (News source.)

SC Gator Hunting

Legislation to allow alligator hunting in South Carolina has hit a small debate regarding whether or not hunters (or landowners with problem gators) will be required to tie off an alligator before shooting it. (News source.)

Gator Hunter

An interesting profile on an alligator hunter here.

Frog Leg Fest

The 17th annual Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival in Florida drew thousands of people, and served up 7,000 pounds of frog legs and 3,000 pounds of gator tail. (News source.)

Alligator Swarm

Alligators swarmed a group of swimming (probably stray) dogs, taking one under while the other two dogs escaped. (News source)

Gator Sanctuary

An alligator sanctuary is planned near Athens, Michigan, if the zoning commission permits. (News source.)

Albino Alligators Stolen

Seven rare albino alligators were stolen from Federal University's zoo in Matto Grosso, Brazil. (News source.)

Alligators & Anti-Scarring

An anti-scar drug is being developed based on research on alligator embryos, where researchers found transforming growth factor beta-3. (News source.)

Albino Gator

The NEW Zoo in Wisconsin is buying a small albino alligator to put on display with a $10,000 donation. (News source.)

Louisiana Cookbook

Alligator and rattlesnake make it into a new cookbook, "After the Hunt," by Chef John Folse. (News source.)

Alligator Meat Promoted

A segment on the Today show recently promoted alligator meat as a healthy diet choice, being lower in fat than beef and chicken. (News source.)

Skinning Gators

Here is a brief profile of a working Louisiana alligator farm, Vermilion Gator Farm, with notes on how gators are skinned for their hides.

Gator Fatality

A man who attempted to elude police officers jumped into a pond behind a Miccosukee Indian Reservation casino. Onlookers shouted to warn him, but he was dragged under and killed by a large alligator. (News source.)

Gator Hunting

A profile on some Florida gator hunters here.

Herps as Food

A review of the Sportsman’s Wild Game Cookout in Lafayette, LA, includes a recipe for alligator sauce piquant.

A Pennsylvania sportsman has been catching and eating snapping turtles for many years. (News source.)

Gator Stories

An 8-foot gator has been aggressive towards residents of Lakewood Ranch, FL, and they want it trapped. (News source.)

A retiree in Sun City Center, FL, has been sabotaging alligator traps, claiming he is defending the gators and that people should just expect to live with them when they move into their habitat. (News source.)

A man swerved on the road to miss an animal, and ended up putting his SUV into a Palm Bay, FL, lake. Large alligators kept divers from retrieving the car. (News source.)

Gator Recipes for the Big Game

University of Kentucky & Florida rivalry leads to some tasty gator recipes online...

Big Gator

A gator was removed from near a subdivision along Lake Monroe, Seminole County. It measured 13 feet 4 inches, weighing over 1000 lbs. It is believed to be responsible for the disappearance of several dogs. (News source.)

Louisiana Tannery

An exotic tannery in Lafayette, Louisiana, processes 10,000 alligator skins a month on average. Profile here.

Gator Trapped

The 8-foot alligator responsible for the death of an elderly woman in Georgia was trapped and killed, with evidence conclusively linking it to the attack. (News source.)

Woman Killed by Gator

An elderly woman found mauled by an alligator in George was in fact killed by it. She was house-sitting for relatives in The Landings, Skidaway Island. (News source.)

Georgia Gator Investigation

The death of an elderly woman in Georgia is being investigated by police to determine whether she was dead prior to being maulted by an alligator, or whether the attack was responsible for her death. (News source.)

Crocodile Tears

Turns out that, rather than being a myth, many crocodilians do "tear up" while eating their food, possibly due to air moving into their sinuses while "huffing" as they tear into a meal, stimulating the tear glands. (News source.)

Gator in Wisconsin

A Wisconsin hunter ran into a four-foot alligator in the Milwaukee River in Washington County. (News source.)

Arkansas Hunts

Some various news on Arkansas' first alligator hunting season:

12 hunters were successful. (News source.)

One hunter was the first female hunter to snare a gator during an official state hunt. (News source.)