Thursday, March 14, 2019

Useful And Essential Facts About Gator Hunts

By Christopher Brooks


Alligators and similarly large reptile are very dangerous animals. In most cases, these big reptiles are usually apex predators in their habitats. That means that they usually thrive in population without the danger of predation from other animals within the same habitat. When the population of alligators grows so huge that they start to interfere with human existence, the situation can be very dangerous. Here are facts regarding Gator hunts.

States like Florida and Texas in the US where alligators exist in in huge numbers are faced with a major danger from the animals. Alligators stray into properties scaring people and attacking pets. In the morning, it is not uncommon to wake to a huge alligator on the stairs basking comfortably. Usually, when this happens, people call animal control department so that they can remove the gator.

Even though animal control department is called to remove them, this does not provide a lasting solution to the problem. A lasting solution should be sought to handle this problem. For that reason, some states in the United States where these reptiles are many permit harvesting. For a period of one or two months every year, citizens are asked to participate in the open hunting season on alligators.

Citizens in the States which allow alligator hunting are provided with licenses for them to participate in the activity. Texas, North Carolina, Mississippi, South Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida and Georgia are examples of such states. Even though citizens are permitted to hunt the gators, there are regulations in place to govern the exercise. This is to prevent overhunting which might lead to extinction of the species. Strict laws are enforced to prevent this.

There was a time in the history of gator hunting when unregulated hunting was made legal and the hunting almost led to their extinction. Gator population at that time had risen to a very high level, such that they had developed into a serious danger to people. They killed and injured residents as well as terrorized homesteads. The time it took to eliminate the threat was not very long with unregulated hunting being legalized.

Following the significant reduction in the number of gators, the US government banned any form of hunting activities against gators in order to restore their populations. The good thing about gators is that they are a sustainable resource. This means that their population can always be restored if they are given enough time. This ability to restore populations is contributed to by the fact that they are apex predators.

Within no time, gator populations came back up and regulate hunting was introduced. Regulation is achieved by limiting the legal hunting period to one or two months in a year. Also, not everybody can engage in this process. Only individuals who have licenses can hunt gators legally. Hunting without a license is against the law.

Strategies are established to ensure there is no biasness in the distribution of hunting licenses. Licensed persons are only allowed to hunt a certain number of gators during the season. The licenses are only valid for one year hence needs to be renewed yearly. Use of bow and arrow, hook and line, gig and snare, and firearm are examples of the hunting methods used.




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