Without having the spinal cord severed and the brain destroyed, the alligator is left to suffer long after being pulled from the water. Hunters describe how, upon firing this device “blood colors the water a cloudy red.” Regulations state that alligators must be killed before being dragged into a boat, but the improper placement and discharge of the bangstick frequently renders the alligator only temporarily unconscious.
After being harpooned or hooked, the alligator is fought to exhaustion (the suffering animal often fights to escape for more than an hour), drawn close to the boat, and killed by lowering his or her head beneath the water and firing a bangstick (bangsticks discharge a firearm cartridge on contact). Once an alligator swallows the bait, the hunter retrieves the line and the peg gets caught in the alligator’s throat. The short, wooden pegs are attached to a line, baited with beef lung or road kill and then thrown out into the water. The use of snatch hooks (weighted, treble hooks attached to a line and used to puncture the alligator’s skin) and baited wooden pegs are also commonly used. Harpoons and crossbows are popular weapons used to attach a restraining line to an alligator. The suffering of alligators during Florida’s public hunt is undeniable. The skin and flesh of dead alligator’s is commonly sold to processors who wait at the docks for hunter’s boats to return.Ī brutal hunt. The alligator is the only animal in Florida that hunters kill in expectation of a financial reward. To make matters worse alligators are tormented and killed for amusement and profit. Yet alligators have much to fear when they encounter human beings, who have left them with dwindling habitats. These unique animals have existed for millions of years. Alligators can live to be more than 35 years old in the wild. Female alligators are very protective of their nests, and baby alligators will stay with their mothers for as long as two years. Alligators communicate vocally, and visually through body postures. You can hear the bellowing of courting alligators in swamps in the spring. Alligators have complex social behavior, including elaborate courtship displays. Alligators build nests and dig large holes (“gator holes”) that create habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, especially during droughts.
Back from the brink of extinction, these resourceful reptiles remain the victims of crueltyĪlligators, as top predators, play an important role in Florida’s ecosystem.
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