BRANDON, Fla. — FWC said an alligator in Brandon has been caught after a woman spotted the alligator with its snout taped shut in a retention pond.
Amber Lock said the gator's snout has been tapped shut since December in her Brandon neighborhood.
"It can’t eat. It doesn’t matter that an alligator can go up to months, months and months without eating. It’s suffering. It’s stressed. It can’t open it’s mouth. It’s just wrong," said Amber Lock.
Lock said she has tried for weeks to get the gator some help. She said she contacted officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
" I just feel like at some point there’s right and wrong. The alligator gets his mouth taped shut because he’s supposed to be removed from a pond that alligator gets away, fine things happen, but two months," said Lock.
A spokesperson for FWC said on Feb. 11, a trapper observed the alligator. The alligator submerged itself anytime someone came close to the water. The FWC Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program issued a new permit on Feb. 12.
FWC officials said the length of time between the initial identification of the alligator on Dec. 24, 2022, to the present action is a result of confusion caused by two different permit requests made to two different trappers by members of the public.
The spokesperson said a contracted nuisance alligator trapper has been assigned to this location and will be working to remove it from the area. When a contracted nuisance alligator trapper removes an alligator, it becomes the property of the trapper. For more information regarding SNAP, click here.
Lock also reached out to Gatorland in Orlando. On Instagram, Gatorland Orlando wrote, "We share your deep concern for the health and safety of the little fella, and we are working with wildlife authorities to try and find a way that we can help."
