Although usually found during Spring, when they will travel miles in search of a mate, alligators may be seen at any time of the year. Typically an alligator will be seen in the exact middle of a lake as it attempts to be as far as possible from houses. Given that the alligators are dangerous, and should be avoided by any means possible, that’s good. Two simple rules of thumb:

• You Can't Outrun an Alligator
• A Pool Cage is Not a Barrier

Sometimes they lose their fear of humans and will be seen sunning themselves on shore. While it is illegal to feed any wild life in Florida, some people are sufficiently oblivious to feed them anyway, which causes an alligator to associate people = food. When a “nuisance” alligator is found, each Florida county has designated alligator trappers responsible for trapping and relocating it. A “hotline” exists for individuals to report these alligators.

Within a gated community such as IslandWalk, though, the process becomes more convoluted. The trapper does not have blanket permission to enter a gated community to perform the trapping. HOA management, or a delegated Property Management company (such as Castle Group), must provide this access permission.

Here in IslandWalk, then, the Florida hotline at (855) 392-4286 is effectively useless. There is no way for an individual to provide access for the trapper. To report a nuisance alligator, you are limited to taking a picture of it and sending the picture, along with date and location taken, to the Property Management company: IslandWalkOffice@castlegroup.com.

Responsibility – and liability – following a report to the Town Center has not been established; hopefully Castle Group is good at following up after an email.

The trapper will be seen with a large fishing pole, usually with a dead chicken for bait. If you see such a person on the banks, remember that the banks are common property ‑ (a) don’t try to stop them, and (b) stay out of the way. There will be lots to see, if and when the alligator gets hooked and landed.