Concerned about a nuisance alligator? Call FWC at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).
For more than three decades, Ken Lawrence has lived in Walden Lake without giving much thought to alligators.
That changed about six months ago, when, for the first time since he moved there, he saw alligators in the ponds near his Emerald Forest home.
Now, the retired businessman and former Emerald Forest homeowners association president is worried about the reptiles’ proximity to neighborhood residents, particularly children who walk near the ponds on their way to school buses.
“I’m really worried something bad is going to happen,” said Lawrence.
One alligator has been seen in the pond behind his home and another in a pond across the street. He estimates one of the animals is seven to eight feet long.
“The ponds are near a route used by children walking to a school bus stop,” he said.
Lawrence said he contacted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) several times about the alligators. A neighbor also contacted FWC, he said.
According to Lawrence, an FWC representative told him a trapper would be sent to assess the situation. He said a man later visited the area, made several casts into the pond with a fishing pole and left without removing an alligator.
He said he once saw someone approach the water’s edge and reach down to touch an alligator. “I had to tell him he should back up,’ he remarked.
FWC encourages people to keep their distance from alligators and never feed or entice them. Feeding them can cause alligators to lose their natural wariness of people and associate humans with food.
Alligators are common throughout Florida and live in all 67 counties. FWC estimates the state has approximately 1.3 million alligators.
The agency’s Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program, or SNAP, is designed to address alligator threats in developed areas while conserving the animals where they naturally occur.
Generally, FWC considers an alligator a nuisance when it is at least four feet long and is believed to pose a threat to people, pets, or property. Smaller alligators also can be removed when they end up in inappropriate locations, such as swimming pools or garages.
Residents concerned about an alligator can call the FWC Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286). If a complaint meets SNAP’s criteria, FWC can issue a permit to a contracted nuisance alligator trapper to remove the animal.
FWC does not routinely remove nuisance alligators. The agency’s website states that relocated alligators often try to return to their capture site, and remote areas suitable for relocation already have established alligator populations, where introducing another animal can lead to fights between alligators.
Alligator bites are uncommon. But FWC records show they can be serious. In 2025, Florida reported 13 alligator bites on people, including eight classified as major bites and two fatalities (a 61-year-old woman killed while canoeing on Tiger Creek in Lake Wales on May 6 and a 73-year-old woman found deceased at a residential pond in Palm Harbor on Oct. 28). The Lake Wales alligator was an 11-foot, 4-inch male. The Palm Harbor alligator measured 6 feet, 8 inches long.
FWC advises residents to supervise children around water, keep pets away from waterways where alligators may be present, swim only in designated areas during daylight hours, and observe alligators only from a safe distance.
State law prohibits killing, harassing, or possessing alligators except under permit.
For Lawrence, the issue comes down to awareness and keeping residents safe.
“I’m not saying there shouldn’t be alligators in Florida,” he said. “But people need to take them seriously.”
