'Huge' gator continues to roam neighborhood canals

ST. PETERSBURG - First there was the rogue runaway monkey.

Now St. Petersburg is dealing with a new wildlife problem: A giant gator.

He's aggressive, too, having already gone after several family pets. Neighbors want him caught before anyone gets hurt.

"I've seen his head. He has a big long head, wide body," said Harvey Murphy, who works at Tony's Meat Market.

The massive, 3-legged gator lurks in the canals off of 11th Avenue South. Nearly everyone at Tony's Meat Market has seen it.

"He's missing one of the front legs. In fact, to be exact, it's the right front leg," resident Mark Bell said. "He has both hind legs and the left but he's missing the right one. He's huge. He's huge! He'll terrify you, if you ever encounter him, he'll terrify you!"

The gator may now be South St. Pete's most legendary and dangerous resident.

"Almost every customer that comes in talks about how they've seen the gator and [has] stories about the gator, how the gator has been hanging out all the time," said Christian Haudabook, also an employee at Tony's.

So far, neighbors say the creature has eaten three pet dogs and they worry what it might eat next.

"He's been down here for two years," said Murphy. "He'll come, he'll go. And the children will be playing out there, fishing, and we tell them about the gator. He will get you, big and easy."

"He needs to be removed from this area, just as soon as they can catch him," Bell, who's come face to face with the gator more than once, said. Bell works in these waters, building and repairing bridges along the canals.

Big gators are nothing new in Pinellas County. Trappers have had their hands full for decades. Over the years, this gator has gotten several complaints, but they've never managed to catch it.

"We worry. I don't want the children to get hurt, you know," said Murphy, who hopes the trapper's luck changes soon. "I ain't gonna get over there. I can't swim! I can't swim. I'm not going near that gator either!"

Fish and Wildlife officials believe the gator is probably closer to 10 feet, rather than 14. Regardless, they want it caught; the trapper does too and he says he's not giving up.

Wildlife officials remind everyone to never feed an alligator. Not only is it against the law, but alligators are natural predators. Feeding them may cause them to lose their fear of humans, associating us with food, and officials say that makes them more likely to attack.