News Details (Posted: January 14, 2007):

Alligator attacks on rise as humans push into their territory

Full Description:

We hunt them for fun and profit. On occasion they try to eat us. Two species, upstart human and ancient alligator, share one habitat in a wary co-existence. Life along the fault line of swamp-turned-suburbia can be mapped out in the scars of the professionals who hunt or wrestle the scaly reptiles. Or in cold-sweat clashes, like a diver's underwater battle with a hungry gator, or an accountant's tug-of-war with the reptile that snatched his puppy. There are approximately 1.5 million gators statewide. Some 18 million humans are steadily encroaching on their turf, experiencing more confrontations with the prehistoric creature whose bite can register more than 2,000 pounds of pressure.