Failed Breakfast Lands Gator In Cuffs

It was a crazy day, when a Florida gator decided to go shopping for breakfast Monday morning. Moving his 71/2 foot long body slowly through the grass, he soon made his way near a sidewalk, where he was sure breakfast would be along any time.

He was right, he was near Forest Lakes Elementary School in Oldsmar, Florida, just before 7:00am local time. Children would soon be every where for the dining.

What Mr. Gator hadn't counted on was a guardian angel looking out for the many breakfast opportunities he hoped to meet. Denise Leone, working as a crossing guard, was that guardian angel. Spotting the gator near the sidewalk she contacted Pinellas county Sheriffs office for help.

Deputies waited patiently for a trapper to arrive, but the gator had other ideas. Apparently he didn't notice the deputies watching as he headed towards an intersection, where already breakfast, I mean children were crossing.

Working quickly, without reading the gator his rights, or giving him a chance to protest, the three deputies got a rope around the gator's neck and tail before the creature started to fight back. The gator thrashed and rolled around, crashing into a wall and breaking off pieces of stucco. You can just imagine what would have happened had that tail made contact with human flesh. Though they didn't taze him, they did place his hind legs in handcuffs to prevent further mischief.


Fish and Wildlife Officials took custody of the alligator until the trapper arrived.

It's the third gator to crawl around a Florida school in the past three months. In August, an alligator even settled into Ridgecrest Elementary School's cafeteria before walking into the boys' bathroom. Maybe he just wanted to wash up before he ate, but authorities were unable to confirm this.

This does prove one thing though...these gators talk to each other, and now they're sharing shopping tips.

Sources:
www.myfoxorlando.com

www.nbc-2.com

www2.scholastic.com

news.yahoo.com