A growing wild alligator population in Texas and increased development in once rural areas of the state means more human encounters with the reptile. Unfortunately, some encounters are deadly.
Gary Saurage is the owner of Gator Country in Beaumont. His team is the leading nuisance alligator hunter in the state, capturing alligators in people’s pools, ponds and backyards, among other places. They bring the captured alligators to their refuge.
Saurage also serves on a national board that studies fatal alligator attacks. He is the Texas representative on the board. Bottom line, he said, is people should not feed wild alligators.
“Ninety percent of every fatal alligator attack is due to the alligator being handfed at some point in its life. The first time you do, it will never forget a human,” Saurage told the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “And that’s the only thing these attacks have in common is they’ve been fed. Do not feed a wild alligator.”
There are now more than one million wild alligators in Texas.
For more information on Gator Country, go to www.gatorrescue.com.