After all, I had my story and my pictures. And I had certainly had enough adventure. (Once I nearly took a dip. That was when the third gator kept reaching his front leg to feel mine. Quite uncomfortable!)
I couldn't help wondering how the alligators must have felt lying there under no stars, said to be dead, shot in the neck with the crossbow then jammed in the head with the 12-guage bang stick. There, with their mouths bound with ducktape and stacked three high on the boat.
The next morning when I woke up, I looked out the window as the sun shone down on the swimming pool and wondered why it was taking Sandy so long to get the last two gators. As it got later and later, and I couldn't reach her on her wireless telephone, I started to worry. Then I called Dave Regel at his home in Golden Gate.
When I asked where was Sandy, I could hear panic in his voice.
"She left the swamp five hours ago."
I captured an image of Sandy, fastened in her seat belt at the bottom of a canal with alligators worming their way in and out of her van windows.
When we hung up, Dave called the sheriff, who then sent his deputies out to look for Sandy.
Imagine my embarrassment when I saw Sandy pull onto the motel parking lot about an hour later. She had left the lake about sunrise, was tired, and had pulled into the parking lot at a SPCA animal shelter to rest.
I quickly called Dave, who then called the sheriff. The head cop then called off the hunt
I don't know if Sandy plans another trip to the swamp. If so, she hasn't invited me.
I wonder why?
The fascination of alligator hunting is astounding. Anyone can enter the drawing to win one of the few annual hunting permits. Permits are then awarded by a lottery draw which determines who can hunt and were selected and a few more than 500 permist issued.
In 1995, nearly 9,000 people submitted applications for one of the 573 permits awarded. In 1998, a little more than 700 permits were issued. Selected hunters are charged a $250 fee for the license if they are residents of Florida; they can take with them hunters, called agents, for an additional $50 each.
Statewide in 1998, there were 15,651 nuisance complaints filed which resulted in 5,129 nuisance alligators being captured. Since the nuisance alligator program began 20 years ago, the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission has received 193,880 complaints resulting in 72,099 alligators being captured statewide by permitted trappers.
Since 1948 there have been 248 alligator attacks on humans, according to the commission. Of those, nine have been fatal. In 1999, there were no fatalities.
I think next time I'll go to the zoo!