Traffic was backed up on Monday while trappers wrangled an alligator on the so-called “18-Mile Stretch” of U.S. 1 that runs through the Everglades between Florida City and North Key Largo.
A video shared by Pesky Critters Wildlife Control shows trappers wrangling a 10-foot alligator in the northbound lanes of U.S. 1 near mile marker 126 on Tuesday.
Both lanes of traffic were blocked by law enforcement for more than an hour while they secured the reptile.
“After a lengthy battle with this massive gator, trappers successfully removed it and traffic was able to flow again,” Pesky Critters said.
While injury or death caused by alligators is rare in Florida, there is significant human-alligator conflict. Nuisance alligators are defined as being over 4 feet long and considered a threat to people, pets or property.
According to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report on the Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program, or SNAP, issued on Feb. 21, the state has 113 contracted nuisance alligator trappers that respond to 10,000 calls for service annually.
Because healthy alligator populations exist in all available habitat in all of Floridas 67 counties, nuisance alligators are generally not relocated to the wild, where their introduction can lead to territorial fights and death, according to the FWC. Nuisance alligators become the trappers property to sell for hide or meat, or to sell live to a zoo or farm.
