Sunday, March 11, 2007

Gator Update

Looser gator-hunt rules allow kills at nesting time | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "RIO HONDO — Listed as endangered a few decades ago, alligators these days are keeping game wardens busy as they respond to calls about the scaly reptiles being spotted alongside highways, behind strip malls and in the man-made lakes of gated housing developments.

The state's solution: more alligator hunting.

April 1 marks the beginning of the first spring alligator-hunting season in Texas, allowing one alligator per hunter in areas beyond the traditional zone in the state's swampy east.

And the new season comes with loosened restrictions, which worry some longtime hunters.

Hunters will be allowed to shoot alligators during nesting season and can shoot alligators in open water, which can leave a wounded and even more dangerous animal sitting in the bottom of a pond.

Traditionally a state warden permits alligator hunting only after a property meets a set of criteria. This season, Texas Parks & Wildlife specialist Amos Cooper said, is 'for any Joe with water and an alligator.'"

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

How many of these guys are going to get drunk or careless, and wind up as 'gator meat?

Unknown said...

There might be a story in this.