HOW TO GET RID OF ALLIGATORS

 

Alligators live in freshwater environments such as ponds, marshes, rivers and swamps. Although alligators have heavy bodies and slow metabolisms, they are capable of short bursts of speed that can exceed 30 miles per hour.

 

 

Damage and Damage Identification
Damage by alligators is usually limited to injuries or death to humans or domestic animals. Alligators inflict damage with their sharp, cone-shaped teeth and powerful jaws. Bites are characterized by puncture wounds and/or torn flesh. Alligators, like other crocodilians that take large prey, prefer to seize an appendage and twist it off by spinning. Many serious injuries have involved badly damaged and broken arms on humans and legs on animals.

Alligators sometimes excavate extensive burrows or dens for refuges from cold temperatures, drought, and predators (other alligators and humans). Burrowing by alligators can damage dikes in impoundments.

 

 

Legal Status
The American alligator is federally classified as “threatened due to similarity of appearance” to other endangered and threatened crocodilians. This provides federal protection for alligators but allows state-approved management and control programs. Alligators can be legally taken only by individuals with proper licenses or permits. Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas have problem or nuisance alligator control programs that allow permitted hunters to kill or facilitate the removal of nuisance alligators. Other states use state wildlife officials to remove problem animals.

 

 

Damage Prevention and Control Methods
Exclusion
Bulkheads along edges of lakes and waterways. Wire-mesh fences.

 

Habitat Modification
Minimize emergent vegetation. Drain ponds and burrow pits where appropriate and permitted.

 

Frightening
Prodding or other harassment can increase wariness. Hunting pressure increases wariness and avoidance of people.

 

Repellents
None are registered.

 

Toxicants
None are registered.

 

Fumigants
None are registered.

 

Trapping
Baited hooks and trip-snare traps are most effective.

 

Shooting
Hunt during the day or night with rifles or crossbows.

 

Other Methods
Hunt with detachable-head harpoons or handheld, breakaway pole snares. Capture with snatch hooks or tongs.

 

 

 

For help getting rid of alligators, contact your local Critter Control office.  To find a Critter Control office near you, check out our Office Finder.