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Wilfredo Lee / AP file
A wildlife biologist holds a small crocodile to release into a cooling canal in Homestead, Fla.
Looking for a job with a little adventure to it? Florida conservation officials are recruiting "crocodile response agents" to help corral the wayward reptiles. No experience required.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is planning to hire two to four more part-time agents — there is currently just one — to respond to calls when crocodiles stray onto human turf in the Florida Keys, the string of wetland islands at the southern tip of the state.
Crocodile response agents "assist in handling human-American Crocodile conflicts," wrote Carli Segelson, spokesperson for the Florida commission’s south region, in an email response to msnbc.com questions. "Their duties include, site visits, captures, translocations, carcass recoveries, other duties as needed."
The agents apparently are part of an attempt to address an increasing number of crocodile sightings, and calm alarm caused when a 10-foot-long crocodile snatched a family dog near Key Largo in March. The crocodile drowned the pet — as they typically do before eating their prey — before locals chased down the creature and retreived the canine carcass, the Miami Herald reported.
The conservation commission’s challenge is not only to protect humans and their pets from crocodiles, but also to prevent harm to the crocodiles, which are slowly recovering from near extinction.
The saltwater-dwelling American crocodile was listed as endangered in 1975 when numbers dropped as low as 300. It is now considered threatened, numbering around 1,500, according to Segelson.
Florida and other parts of the Southeast U.S. also have a large population of the freshwater American alligator, a cousin of the crocodile, and they also make unwelcome appearances.
According to the conservation commission, learning to handle these reptiles is relatively easy. A crocodile response agent earns $25 an hours and works as needed. Experience is preferred but not required, and training is provided.
"There is inherent danger handling any live crocodilian," wrote Segelson. "However, our (agents) are taught safe handling and transport techniques to protect them and the crocodile from injury. Consequently, the danger is minimal."
Some residents along the shorelines and canals of the Keys are not happy about the re-emergence of the giant reptiles, which can grow up to 15 feet long.
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"Do we wait until a child gets hurt until we do something?" asked Councilman Dave Purdo at a village council meeting in Islamorada on May 30, according to a report by keysnews.com. "Is that what we're waiting for, until a child gets hurt?"
According to the report, state conservation biologist Lindsey Hord told the meeting there has never been a recorded crocodile attack on a human in all of Florida, but he acknowledged that crocodiles present a danger, especially to pets.
He urged people to take precautions such as fencing their dock areas, keeping children and pets away from canals and either not swimming at all or avoiding swimming at night. He also said fishermen should avoid dumping the waste from fish-cleaning along the banks because that tends to attract hungry crocodiles.
"What you are experiencing is the return of the crocodile to its historic range," Lindsey told the council, according to keysnews.com. "We can live with these things. It just requires acceptance of the fact that they are going to be here, and to accommodate that, taking some common sense safety steps."
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Leave a Comment:
Maybe they could use convicted professional criminals to fill the billet. Murderers, sexual predators, or those on death row. That would help in more than one way.
He must be running for re-election. I doubt he gives a sh*t about kids being eaten by Crocs.
If Amos Moses can do it,,,, doesn't mean that you can. I've watched Swamp People and they got grit.
There's that sucker. Hold my beer, Bubba, an' watch this...
I think the whole thing is a "croc".
I thought only Alligators lived in North America...
they are native to north america yes, but crocs were brought in by people who had them as pets and could not handle, so they let them loose. just like the pythons in the everglades.
Huh? Crocs are native to the glade's, and they swim to the Keys, it has nothing to do with people keeping them as pets. Pythons, yes, iguana's, yes, croc's, no.
Nope. Crocodiles live in south Florida. They don't do cold weather though.
Something just doesn't sound right about that....crocodile handlers with no experience. That's like saying
"emergency room care...no experience required."
I think they should reach out to the Turtle Man! Liiiive action!
I'm glad the author cleared this up about the pics. It goes to show that before posting a pic, the editors need to know exactly what they are posting.
I would like to look into this. This appeals to me and I'm not really all about grabbing reptiles but I do love conservation and being outdoors.
Ya! uhhh No thank you!
crocs will attack for no reason, alligators are afraind of people unless provoked. you people need to learn the facts before posting. and i live in fort lauderdale and i can say i have never seen an alligator or a crock in my neighborhood. they do not come out to this area. the people who are affected are the ones who choose to live in the everglades or the borders of such.
Not true, I live in the Keys, over an hour from the mainland, and we have had crocs in our canals for a few years now. They are showing up as far south as Big Pine Key.
Out here in Tampa area, alligators are all over, Venice, Sarasota, Arcadia, Port Charlotte, St Pete all the Gulf Coast and it is shocking how in normal neighborhoods, gated villages etc. The gators now are not confined to just the swamps and protected land areas, I lived in Ft Lauderdale and there are not nearly as many there , we are the west coast of FL and little more north (like central Southwest Florida Gulf Coast)and a similar sociological area to greater Ft Laud. area - we thought it would be the same out here as Ft Lauderdale generally , but there are many more alligators mingling with the humans here, many more. Many of the average American Alligators are not a threat to people, small children can be a danger but more often in these parts pet attacks are much more common or accidental human attacks. Myakka Sate Park is swarming with gators, if someone fell in the river in certain spots, a gator would react and take a swipe. By accident. Increasingly humans are intruding on more natural eco systems and that mixed with the comeback of the species will become more of a concern how to handle. Many want to trap and move and many want to protect the gator as well as the residential property owner and their is safety concerns for sure.
This sounds to me like the sort of job where you don't want to be that first person hired and working alone all the time, but it might not be so bad if you're the fourth, so you could have some minimal backup if you run into a big'un.
And I would imagine there are relatively few reports of children being killed by crocodilians in the Keys because if they go in for a swim, the bull sharks will pick them off, first.
How do they know for sure they're all American crocodiles?
That's a job requirement they didn't mention. You will have to check the crocodile's passport to make sure it is not an illegal immigrant.
GOOD LUCK! The OLD Bait and Switch! HAH!
All this hype about a job, but no contact ##'s . Typical gov add!!
These people make me laugh, you moved in to a area with these type of animal and want them all removed "Its easier for you to move your family and then it is to move them" and They were there first.try remembering that.
if I lived down that way, i would apply for the job.
''We can't wait for something to happen,'' said Mary Abreu, the assistant park manager.
The killing of the boy last month was rare; alligators have killed only eight people in Florida in the last half century. But the danger of death or injury is increasing as both the human and alligator populations thrive, state officials said.
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/19/us/after-a-killing-a-surge-in-fear-of-florida-alligators.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
here is the article....
the big gators are a threat to humans , especially where populations are increasing and the intrusion on the natural eco system, that mixed with the comebacks of these species you will see more of this...as Florida becomes more metropolitan and urban sprawl.
I AM IN!