Every area has local color of some type or the other and you often don’t think about it until you have a visitor or someone new in town. Alligators are a good example here. We’re not far from the Everglades National Park in one direction and the Biscayne National Park in the other direction. There are also numerous canals, although they don’t lead to open water. In other words, there are plenty of places for alligators to roam around in. They mostly remain in the parks, but mostly means, “not always.” A new resident was startled when she heard that they might have an alligator in one of the ponds in her neighborhood. That’s when I explained that yes, it could be, and it was not all that unusual.

In fact, the first time we had one close by, I, too, thought I should alert someone, but when I pointed the creature out to one of the security personnel, he merely shrugged. It seems as though the rule here is that unless the reptile is five feet or longer, or actively causing a problem, it’s considered as any other local wildlife – no more to be concerned about than say, a turtle. If it’s in your yard, or attacking a pet, sure, that’s worth coming around to check on, but just being in the area is not a big deal. It’s an interesting rule and I must admit, not one that you immediately think of if you don’t live in a place with a lot of alligators.