Gators on the prowl
Storm's floodwaters allow nearly 200 reptiles to escape Moss Point tourist attraction
Friday, September 09, 2005
By RON COLQUITT
Staff Reporter
MOSS POINT, Miss. -- Nearly 200 alligators are on the prowl because their enclosure at Gulf Coast Gator Ranch & Tours flooded during Hurricane Katrina, the business owner said Thursday.

Big Bull, a 25-year-old male alligator that is more than 15 feet long, was among the escapees, along with Whitey, a near-albino alligator, and another named One Eye Willie, Allan Adams said.

Gator Ranch is located on U.S. 90 just east of Pascagoula. The 8-foot-high, wire-fence-enclosed and water-filled pens that held the gators are bordered on the south by a swamp stretching to the coast.

The estimated 12-foot storm surge from Katrina flooded the pens. The owner's home, which sat atop 10-foot pilings, also flooded.

Adams said he's not worried that anyone, including his 7-year-old stepdaughter, Jordan Sumrall, will be attacked by one of his gators.

"What they did was go out there to their natural habitat, all of the swamp out there," Adams said in a distinct Cajun accent.

An alligator's instinct is to flee from humans and other dangers, he said.

Gary Casper, a Mobile area nuisance alligator control agent, said Thursday that humans typically create any dangerous situations involving gators, such as getting too close to them or trying to catch them.

But he said he is concerned about the ranch alligators associating food with people -- and approaching them for a handout -- since they had been fed by Adams.

Casper said he has been called on to capture four alligators, ranging in length from 7 to 10 feet, in the Mobile area since the Aug. 29 hurricane. One of those was a 9-foot alligator in a motel swimming pool, he said.

Adams is confident that his ranch alligators are in the swamp. He said his stepdaughter "knows to stay away from a big alligator. An alligator generally has a bad reputation, but it's unwarranted."

According to Adams, he and his wife, Joyce Adams, and Jordan rode out the hurricane at a relative's home in Lucedale, Miss. "I didn't know how bad it would be until I came back down here and looked at it," he said. "It was just complete destruction. I couldn't even believe it."

Besides the loss of the alligators, three of the ranch's four air boats, the souvenir/gift shop and several buildings were badly damaged, he said.

Up to 100 people had visited Gator Ranch each day prior to the hurricane and the Labor Day weekend had always brought an influx of paying customers, he said.

The owner estimated that he has lost at least $10,000 in income, and said that the missing alligators are worth at least $100,000.

Joyce Adams said Thursday, "This is our way of life; this is how we make our living. ... It's just been devastating. It made me sick."

Jordan said that she was sad because a kitten she was raising was also swept away by the flood.

Her parents said the only good news is that their pet snake, a 9-foot boa constrictor, survived and was found outside its cage in the gift shop. The 12-year-old snake, ironically named Katrina, had been in a glass-fronted cage that shattered when the souvenir/gift shop was rocked by the flood water.

The Adamses said they plan to rebuild and reopen.

"I'm getting discouraged, but I'm not quitting," Allan Adams said. "I'm going to do everything in my ability to get this thing back going. This is my livelihood, this is where I make my living.

"This has always been kind of like my dream. This is what I want to do. I've been around alligators all my life, and I understand alligators."

He said he doubted that the gators were hurt by the storm.

"Alligators are pretty tough," he said. "They've been around about 200 million years and a little bit of water's not going to affect an alligator."

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Rusty