TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online
Trapper Catches Gator That Nearly Caught Dog
TBO.com photo by Beth Gaddis
It took trapper Mickey Fagan only about 15 minutes to lure the gator onto the shore.
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Published: March 25, 2008
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LUTZ — An alligator that tried to turn a dog into supper is no longer worrying the Heritage Harbor neighborhood.
It took third-generation trapper Mickey Fagan only 15 minutes to lure the alligator to the shore with gator calls and beef lung. A few seconds later, the 61/2-foot reptile was tied and no longer a danger to anyone.
Fagan, a department of corrections worker by day and a licensed trapper at night, said it was an easy hunt. He's had hunts that lasted days, especially when the weather was cold, he said.
About a dozen neighbors, many of them children, gathered at Cathy Piendel's house on Sandy Springs Circle at 5 p.m. to watch the hunt from her screened-in porch.
"It was cool," Alec Piendel, 9, said.
"I thought the guy would be bitten, but he didn't," his twin, Kira, said. "They got it with a fishing hook with meat on it."
On Sunday, the Piendel children had joined about a dozen neighborhood children for an Easter egg hunt in their back yard, which edges the pond. They saw the alligator sunning itself on the opposite bank and the adults kept a close eye on it.
A few hours later, at sunset, the Piendels' 7-pound Maltese-toy poodle mix, Gizmo, wriggled his way through a rip in the screened-in porch and headed down to the pond. The dog's owner heard the dog yelping. At that point, the alligator gripped Gizmo's back leg. Cathy Piendel ran toward the animals, yelling, and the alligator let go.
"He has bite marks around his ear area and on his back thigh," Cathy Piendel said. The veterinarian took X-rays, but there appeared to be no broken bones or internal bleeding, she said. Gizmo does have an infection from the alligator bites and is on antibiotics and painkillers. "He's much better today," Piendel said.
The dog has a slight limp, but the veterinarian expected that to go away.
A family member brought Gizmo onto the porch once the alligator was safely bound. The dog started growling immediately.
"I'm relieved that they finally retrieved [the alligator] because he was so aggressive," Piendel said.
Fagan allowed the youngsters to touch the alligator before he hauled him away. The alligator will most likely be destroyed, the trapper said.
"Look around at all the kids," Fagan said. "He wasn't afraid, he came right after my meat."
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( DrMelPractice ) on March 25, 2008 at 9:54 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Shoot them. In the head. Very humane - but try not to anthropomorphize a reptile, idiots. Stop feeding them table scraps so they don't fear humans.
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Posted by ( signit4bes ) on March 25, 2008 at 10:36 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Governor Andrew Jackson exterminated the Seminoles. I guess now it's the Gators' turn.
Seriously though, as I said during the "Al Lopez Gator Hunt", the dog owner should be charged with negligence and cruelty to animals. I'm not talking about Gizmo, but the gator. It's negligent to allow your dog to escape it's habitat wander into a dangerous situation like that, thus, placing the gator at risk.
If ya wanna reach for an analogy...
What's the difference between this, and a parent who lets their child (ie, dog) run into the road (ie, pond) and get hit by a passing motorist (ie, its own habitat)?
Unless the gator is either rabid or drunk, how is it a nuissance?
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Posted by ( 4223 ) on March 25, 2008 at 10:38 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Nice, real nice. One lady stated that the gator was aggressive and that she is glad it was captured. The only reason that the gator was aggressive was because a little obnoxious dog (aka..lunch) got in it's face and started barking and growling at it while it was trying to catch some sun. The gators a native floridian but I would be willing to bet that those people in that subdivision are from up north. The gators were here first. Leave them alone and keep your little obnoxious dog on a leash like the law says you should.
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Posted by ( JNXD ) on March 25, 2008 at 10:58 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
It's a shame that we encroach into their habitat and then kill them off because they are categorized as a threat. They seem only to be a threat to yappy dogs and meth heads. Personally, I'll take the gator over either of those.
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Posted by ( RingMyBell ) on March 25, 2008 at 11:28 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I'm tired tonight, so, DrMelPractice, what does anthropomorphize mean? And, as a side note, if any of you live less than 3 miles from a 7-11/Circle K or 8 miles from a Wal-Mart, I don't think you should be speaking about saving the dangereous wildlife from attacking any unsuspecting dog. If you live on the woods, water, or in "country", you do live with all that it gives you. No doubt, most of you that believe in saving the poor alligator, or any natural dangerous animal, would freak if it was a rattlesnake that showed up at your front door twice, or a rat clan that lived in your roof, or a roach's nest under your kitchen sink. Common sense prevails here, and DrMelPratice is probably right, but I don't know what the big 25 cent "A" word means, so I can't be sure.
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Posted by ( LutzNutz ) on March 25, 2008 at 11:45 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Don't any of you know that those little dogs are gator bait? there's no reason to kill the gator for doing what gators do. If you want Florida to be sterile let's kill off all the wildlife so your little yapping mutts and precious little snowflakes will be safe. Maybe then it'll look just New York or Ohio or wherever you're from.
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Posted by ( MamaMagic ) on March 26, 2008 at 12:29 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I have to agree with both sides here; HOWEVER . . . .when the folks feed the gators, which is usually what happens in these subdivisions, the gators totally lose their fear of humans,and become agressive. The folks from elsewhere think it's really cool to tell their friends back home how they have a gator in their retention pond behind their house, and how they feed it chocolate chip cookies or raw chicken on Sunday afternoons. I've seen it happen waaaayy too many times. Then the gator starts to expect a little tidbit on a regular basis. That's when the household pets and/or kids are placed in danger. You are right, the gators were here first, and we have taken away their homes by filling in the swamps and wetlands. Same with racoons and fox, and Florida Black Bears. It's illegal to feed the wildlife, but then if we don't feed the fox and raccoons,they will starve. Sometimes trapped gators are released, to a swamp or to a zoo, but usually they are destroyed. We hunt deer to thin the herds, and recently gators have been taken off the endangered list, so during certain seasons the state offers permits to hunt gator so as to thin their packs, in the same manner. It's actually more humane to hunt them than to let them starve, in my opinion.
Yes, the gator was doing what gators do, and yes, there is a leash law, but when dogs do what dogs do, they do occasionally escape from their confinement. Kids do the same thing--and they can be pretty creative when they want to escape the house and go exploring. Unfortunately, that gator wasn't in his natural habitat--he was in a retention pond.
RingMyBell: anthropomorphize means to give human characteristics to things which are not human.
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Posted by ( MamaMagic ) on March 26, 2008 at 1:06 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I have to agree with both sides here; HOWEVER . . . .when the folks feed the gators, which is usually what happens in these subdivisions, the gators totally lose their fear of humans,and become agressive. The folks from elsewhere think it's really cool to tell their friends back home how they have a gator in their retention pond behind their house, and how they feed it chocolate chip cookies or raw chicken on Sunday afternoons. Then the gator starts to expect a little tidbit on a regular basis. I've seen it happen waaay too many times. That's when the household pets and/or kids are placed in danger. You are right, the gators were here first, and we have taken away their homes by filling in the swamps and wetlands. Same with racoons and fox, and Florida Black Bears. It's illegal to feed the wildlife, but then if we don't feed the fox and raccoons ,they will starve. Sometimes trapped gators are released, to a swamp or to a zoo, but usually they are destroyed. We hunt deer to thin the herds, and recently gators have been taken off the endangered list, so during certain seasons the state offers permits to hunt gator so as to thin their packs, in the same manner. It's actually more humane to hunt them than to let them starve, in my opinion.
Yes, the gator was doing what gators do, and yes, there is a leash law, but when dogs do what dogs do, they do occasionally escape from their confinement. Kids do the same thing--and they can be pretty creative when they want to escape the house and go exploring. Unfortunately, that gator wasn't in his natural habitat--he was in a retention pond.
RingMyBell: anthropomorphize means to give human characteristics to things which are not human.
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Posted by ( Pookie8 ) on March 26, 2008 at 7:50 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Im sorry but id like to know where in the article it says that the alligator was/is going to be killed? How do you know it wasnt moved or placed somewhere where it cant harm other animals or children? You dont!! And i know that any of these people on here talking about how its the alligators habitat and stuff, if it was their dog or child that had been bitten that theyd be pitching a fit and would want the alligator gone as well. Lets just hope that the alligator was placed in a better area more enviornmental for it and wasnt put to death.
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Posted by ( toekneed ) on March 26, 2008 at 8:55 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
When do I get to pick up my new shoes?
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Posted by ( markyn11 ) on March 26, 2008 at 10:01 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Pookie8 read the next to last sentence in the article. Poor gator did nothing wrong and is going to be destroyed because some little yip yip mutt wandered into his habitat. He was only doing what comes natural trying to eat. People you can spin this anyway you like but once you reach the waters edge you are in a gators habitat and they have every right to be there. It is no different then going swimming in the Gulf your taking a chance of being bitten by a shark or cuda it's their habitat. If you don't want your precious little lap mutt eaten then keep tabs on them.
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Posted by ( LynnS ) on March 26, 2008 at 10:35 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
An alligator that is in its own home and enviroment gets killed because something invaded it's territory. The owners of the dog should have fixed the whole immediately or not let their dog have access to the screened porch. Once again irresponsible owners!!!
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Posted by ( markyn11 ) on March 26, 2008 at 11:40 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I emailed PETA this article i'm interested to see what their take on it is.
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Posted by ( andrea01 ) on March 26, 2008 at 1:36 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
they could have taken it to a alligator farm or lake okeechobee
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Posted by ( kpg8 ) on March 26, 2008 at 3:42 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
the trapper said' he went right after the meat" of course he did if you offered me the equivlent of a tbone steak I would knock people over to get to it.
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Posted by ( danrome1 ) on March 26, 2008 at 3:57 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
"Look around at all the kids," Fagan said. "He wasn't afraid, he came right after my meat."
Isn't this the same quote that Lisa Robyn Marinelli used? Or was it Stephanie Ragusa? I can't remember...
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