By Shirley Wilson
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

A warning sign is posted near the duck pond (left).

Catching a living dinosaur does not frighten John Rao, game warden for Texas Parks and Wildlife. Rao relocates alligators that trespass onto UH-Clear Lake's duck pond and private property.

Alligators inhabit Armand Bayou Park and provide an essential function within the ecosystem by controlling wildlife populations such as rodents. Alligators innately fear people unless people feed them, and then they become "friendly."

Unfortunately, for the alligators becoming friendly with people usually means they will be destroyed. Feeding alligators changes their behavior.

Alligators learn to approach people for food and to view people as a food source. Since alligators cannot distinguish between people and food, alligators may bite the hand that feeds them.

"If people feed them, it is usually a death sentence for the alligator," Rao said. "If alligators get used to people, they can get dangerous. We have to use our best judgment on that [decision to destroy it.]"

Lt. Derrel Means (right), university police, holds a 4-foot alligator before relocating it from the campus duck pond.
photos by Shirley Wilson

Rao admires these ancient reptiles that have existed unchanged for 65 million years. He understands its sit-and-wait predatory behavior, nocturnal feeding habits and reluctance to attack mammals larger than itself.

Rao does not view alligators as threatening, especially ones under 6-feet.

"You're looking at a living dinosaur, sit back and enjoy it," Rao said. "If people would leave alligators alone, they're not dangerous animals. They are when you mess with them."

"A big one can be a threat to small children, but a small child shouldn't be in the bayou or by the water's edge alone. When you look at the threat of an alligator compared to other things [in the bayou,] you have more of a chance of being bitten by a spider, bee or snake."

The university displays warning signs advising people not to feed alligators or ducks at the pond.

Other measures include 5-foot fencing to separate the pond from the bayou and dredging of the pond to make it less habitable to alligators.

In spite of the university's efforts, the location and competition for food continues to attract alligators to the pond. Lt. Derrell Means, university police, said that when the university determines that there are threatening alligators in the pond, Texas Parks and Wildlife is notified for relocation.

Due to the number of alligators in the area, relocation can sometimes be difficult. The alligator's size and behavior determine whether it can be relocated or has to be destroyed.

Means said the university strongly advises against approaching or feeding alligators, but people continue to ignore warnings. He added that feeding alligators is an ongoing problem. Also, people continue to allow small children and pets near the pond banks unsupervised.

Means would like for people to become more educated about alligators.

People need to know that they can sit on a park bench and enjoy the alligators, but they cannot approach them, torment them or feed them, Means said.

"Once people start feeding them, [the alligators] are ultimately going to be destroyed and that's very unfortunate for that animal," Means said. "The animal is in its natural environment and habitat and is being forced out because people will not comply with the regulation to not approach and to not feed it."

Rao said that Texas has a general, non-punishable law about not feeding alligators. It is illegal to feed alligators in Florida, punishable with a fine and jail time. Alligators can co-exist with people peacefully.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission estimates that 1 million alligators and 15 million people share the same freshwater areas in Florida.

Yet, only 11 fatal alligator attacks have occurred since 1948 with some attacks caused by people feeding alligators. The only serious incident Means recalled at the university occurred in the early 90s after a woman walked her Labrador Retriever to a remote bayou area not frequented by trail walkers.

The alligator attacked the dog after the woman repeatedly threw a stick in the water for the dog to retrieve. Rao said that the alligator involved lived in the secluded bayou area and stayed away from people.

Although it was never a problem, pressure from the community forced Rao to destroy the "magnificent specimen." "I hated to and didn't want to, but we had to [destroy it.] That was a 13-footer. That gator was probably 70 years old," Rao said. "He was doing what an alligator does-eat small prey."

Alligators' ancestors lived in the Triassic period 230 million years ago. Alligators average 13 to 15 feet and weigh 500 to 600 pounds, but have grown to 19 feet and 1,000 pounds.

While they are semi-aquatic, they can outrun a horse from a distance of 30 feet. Since alligators store fat in their tails for nourishment, they can go without food for more than one year.

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