I love Florida

[Sharky]

Gator Goes for Ride on Fla. School Bus

Tue Mar 9,12:56 PM ET

LACOOCHEE, Fla. - Middle and high school students were riding home from school when they spotted a 4-foot alligator crossing the road, were allowed off the school bus to catch it and took it home.

None of the 11 students on the bus were injured, and the alligator was fine when it was released into a nearby river by the father of two of the boys.

State wildlife officials and the Pasco County State Attorney's Office are investigating the bus driver. Sherry Hattaway, 41, has been on paid leave since the Thursday incident.

"If the facts I'm hearing are true, then at the least she used some of the worst judgment someone could use in endangering kids," Pasco school superintendent John Long said.

Hattaway did not immediately return a telephone call for comment Tuesday.

The alligator was spotted as it crossed the road in front of the bus, said passenger Wilfredo Santiago, 14, who asked the driver to stop.

At first she refused, but a group of boys talked her into letting them off about 40 miles northeast of Tampa. Four boys ran off the bus, found the alligator hiding in a hole and used sticks to prod the animal out. A fifth student gave them a roll of electrical tape from the bus to bind the alligator's jaws.

The gator was hauled onto the bus and off again at the home of two boys. Their father Jimmy Scroggins came home to find a crowd of kids around the calm alligator.

Scroggins took the animal to the nearby Withlacoochee River and released it. The next day, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers were at his house.

Hattaway has an unmarred driving history, according to district personnel files and state driving records. Job references said she was "good" and "excellent" with children. Six evaluations gave her consistent satisfactory ratings, including for bus discipline and reliability.

Scroggins said that while he didn't condone his children's actions, he was more befuddled by the driver's.

"Kids are going to do what kids are going to do," he said. "But there was a consenting adult involved."

 

[Mare]

Only in Fl........

(What a big Cock you got there Robert....hehe)

 

[tonksy]

you mean gators don't routinely ride the bus in florida?
a gator's just a scaly puppy on a chain in louisiana....

 

[AlphaTroll]

Why'd the gator cross the road?

 

[tonksy]

Why'd the gator cross the road?

actually, chances are that the gator was just basking on the blacktop...they like the heat of the road on their bellies.

 

[AlphaTroll]

I see, so the road is right next to the waterside or woulf gators travel some distance for comfort?

(Blimey, remind me not to hitch hike in Florida)

 

[tonksy]

I see, so the road is right next to the waterside or woulf gators travel some distance for comfort?

(Blimey, remind me not to hitch hike in Florida)

yup...us humans are constantly infringing on their territory...building roads through the bayou areas etc....what you gonna do? makes for yummy roadkill

 

[AlphaTroll]

Who, the crocs that run over on the roads by humans, or the humans who get 'run over' by crocs?

 

[HomeLAN]

Why'd the gator cross the road?

To eat the chicken on the other side.

 

[Gato_Solo]

Why'd the gator cross the road?

To try and eat the chicken?

 

[Oz]

Kids catch a four foot alligator!

I wonder what genius (or horrendous) plan they had to do with it after they caught it

The worst we have to worry about round my way is sitting on an unfortunate hedgehog

 

[tonksy]

Who, the crocs that run over on the roads by humans, or the humans who get 'run over' by crocs?

either way....to the victor goes the spoils, i suppose

 

[Professur]

And noone's pointed out that they probably learned how to do it from Steve Irwin? C'mon, somebody suggest suing him.

 

[tonksy]

And noone's pointed out that they probably learned how to do it from Steve Irwin? C'mon, somebody suggest suing him.

hate to break it to you, but people've been messing with gators long before steve-o was a household name.

 

[Professur]

I know that, and you know that. But if you can convince a judge otherwise, we can all make a mint. He's rich. Class action suit, everyone sign on.

 

[PT]

I was going to say, they probably learned it from Uncle One Leg Earl.

 

[Sharky]

you mean gators don't routinely ride the bus in florida?
a gator's just a scaly puppy on a chain in louisiana....

Louisiana pond lizards got nothin' on a Florida alligator . . .

(this one measured 18 feet long, found by construction crews at the Orlando airport)

 

[tonksy]

Louisiana pond lizards got nothin' on a Florida alligator . . .

(this one measured 18 feet long, found by construction crews at the Orlando airport)

*fires up the grill

 

[chatty kathy]

LOL....Thanks I was looking for this article....We here would have been fired in Charlotte county....Taking this to work tomorrow ....some drivers have not saw this yet

 

[Sharky]

Have I mentioned how much I love this place?



Boy Punches Alligator and Escapes

Thu May 20, 5:27 PM ET

DELTONA, Fla. - An alligator dragged a 12-year-old swimmer underwater in a lake, but the boy punched the reptile and swam safely to shore.

Malcolm Locke was treated for cuts and scrapes that were not considered life threatening.

He was bit while swimming Wednesday in Lake Diana, near his grandmother's house just north of Orlando.

He saw the alligator's tail first, he said. "It was coming right at me," he told NBC's "Today" show Thursday.

Malcolm, who is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, tried to swim away, but the alligator, which was 4 to 6 feet long, attacked his head and pulled him under water, officials said.

"It took a bite out of my head and a big chunk out of my ear," Malcolm said.

He punched the alligator, and "it just squirmed away," he said. He swam to shore, and a neighbor drove him to a hospital.

A trapper was sent to the lake to remove the alligator.

The boy's mother, Misty Warren, said the family has seen alligators in the area before, but none had ever bothered them.

The best thing to do during an alligator attack is struggle, make noise and create confusion, said Joy Hill, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.

"Malcolm did the right thing," Hill said. "He fought the alligator and it let him go."