One of my favorite cops, who shall remain nameless for fear a bunny hugger will burn a lumberjack on his front lawn, was the rarest of all things in Southwest Florida: A native Floridian. Born and raised here.
In his youth, times were hard and his family did what had to be done to get by. That included taking an occasional gator for it's tail meat and hide. When the EPA decided the gators were becoming extinct, we were glad he, with his unique experience, was around.
This was in the 60's and it's still a mystery as to how they came to that goofy conclusion. Anyone who went to the woods (swamps) knew you couldn't take a step without tripping over a gator. They may have been extinct in Washington, D.C.. Here, we were flush with them.
But, gators were put on the endangered list, hunting them was prohibited, and they proliferated, crawling all over the city. The Depot area was Gator Central. The canal behind 6th Lane North, and others, were full of them. And, the abutting yards were full of small children. This caused so many gator calls the wildlife folks were overwhelmed. So, the NPD had to improvise. Enter my associate.
He knew just how to lasso them, secure their killer jaws, and tie them up for portage. We'd hold on to the critters until it was obvious the wildlife folks weren't gonna show. Then, he'd put them in his trunk, take them home, and put 'em in his bathtub. There they rested until he got off duty. Soon they were transformed into prime eatin's. And, the hides were going for $21 a foot.
The same EPA nonsense was applied to eagles, a first cousin of a vulture. When we were supposed to be in dire danger of losing them, the folks at the dump had to run flocks of them off so the garbage trucks could get in.
Your tax dollars at work!
In his youth, times were hard and his family did what had to be done to get by. That included taking an occasional gator for it's tail meat and hide. When the EPA decided the gators were becoming extinct, we were glad he, with his unique experience, was around.
This was in the 60's and it's still a mystery as to how they came to that goofy conclusion. Anyone who went to the woods (swamps) knew you couldn't take a step without tripping over a gator. They may have been extinct in Washington, D.C.. Here, we were flush with them.
But, gators were put on the endangered list, hunting them was prohibited, and they proliferated, crawling all over the city. The Depot area was Gator Central. The canal behind 6th Lane North, and others, were full of them. And, the abutting yards were full of small children. This caused so many gator calls the wildlife folks were overwhelmed. So, the NPD had to improvise. Enter my associate.
He knew just how to lasso them, secure their killer jaws, and tie them up for portage. We'd hold on to the critters until it was obvious the wildlife folks weren't gonna show. Then, he'd put them in his trunk, take them home, and put 'em in his bathtub. There they rested until he got off duty. Soon they were transformed into prime eatin's. And, the hides were going for $21 a foot.
The same EPA nonsense was applied to eagles, a first cousin of a vulture. When we were supposed to be in dire danger of losing them, the folks at the dump had to run flocks of them off so the garbage trucks could get in.
Your tax dollars at work!
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