CROCLIST: Search for Trenton

[April Bagwill]

Here is one article that I found mentioning the plan for inspecting stomach
contents. It sounds as if they are not planning on catching all large
alligators, but just one. Still, it will most likely lead to nothing but the
unfortunate killing of a gator.

http://www.local6.com/news/9876601/detail.html

April Bagwill


Quoting Bill Zeigler <bzeigler at atlantic.net>:

> I have just been informed by a friend that channel 9 out of Orlando 
> Florida has announced the plans by the Orange County Sheriffs 
> Department to kill every gator over 8 feet in a lake in the Ocala 
> National Forest in an attempt to find any remains of the young boy.  
> I hope this is not true.
>
> First of all, the boy has been missing for at least three weeks 
> looking at the timing of the supposed sighting of Trenton and his 
> mother at this particular lake and the date she announced he was 
> missing to today.  Given the water temps and the basking temps these 
> gators experience, there is very little to no chance that any remains 
> of a small child would be found in a gator.
>
> To randomly kill gators for such an endeavor is ludicrous.
>
> I have deep sympathy for the family, but taking the lives of a 
> unknown number of gators for a ill fated search makes no sense.  This 
> whole thing has gotten out of hand and is running on emotion and not 
> logic.
> bz



April Bagwill
Dept. of Biological Sciences
Southeastern Louisiana University
Hammond, LA 70401