THE key to
coexisting
with alligators
is to, as
Howard puts it, “let
wild be wild.” Don’t
live in fear of them, but
recognize that they are
an untamed, potentially
dangerous creature and
give them a wide berth.
“They’re actually pretty
shy creatures,” Davis says.
“A naturally behaving
alligator, if they see you
their instinct is to avoid
you. They’ll go in the
water and submerge.
There’s only five instances
that we have documented
of people that have been
bitten by an alligator.
None were fatal, and all
were provoked by the
person. If you don’t want
to get bit by an alligator,
don’t jump on it.”
Humans and alligators
typically co-exist just
fine as long as that basic
protocol is followed. But
if it is violated, the rela-tionship
is out of balance.
“What can change that
is if people feed alligators,”
Davis says. “Just like any
wild species, if a person
feeds an alligator it will
teach an alligator to asso-ciate
people with food.”
It’s a potentially danger-ous
scenario when a gator
sees a human as a possible
food source. In that case,
alligators can be a danger
and must be relocated.
The Boyette
Law Firm
3205 Randall Parkway, Suite 202
Wilmington, North Carolina 28403
910-251-9213
www.BoyetteLaw.com
Geannine M. Boyette practices
in the areas of Domestic and
Criminal Law, dealing with
issues such as Child Custody
and Support, Spousal Support,
Equitable Distribution, Divorce,
DWI, criminal and traffic violations.
Geannine also devotes a fair share
of her practice to defending
individuals against the
Department of Social Services.
38
WBM june 2020
/www.BoyetteLaw.com
