- We sure wouldn’t want to be the ones who have to tell a fat alligator he needs to go on a diet.
It’s nothing unusual to run into alligators in Florida. They’re everywhere, kind of like water-bound pigeons with more teeth.
Recently, however, one beastie got a bit too close for comfort. Residents of Temple Terrace grew worried about a big alligator that had moved into the yard of the city’s old Coca-Cola plant.
Most people were concerned the gator — which the locals nicknamed “Coca-Cola” — could hurt pets, children, or themselves. Others seemed quite fond of the visitor, though.
So much so, in fact, that they took to feeding the giant reptile with hams and other treats. As a result, he…
Well, he’s a bit chunky. “Nearly-500-pounds” level chunky.
His extra weight didn’t make removing the plus-sized gator any easier. Nonetheless, a local reptile and exotic animal handling group wrangled the overweight monster out of the abandoned plant and relocated him to a wildlife facility.
Now, Coca-Cola is on a diet to help him shed his extra pounds.
The Expanding Gator
No one’s quite sure when or how Coca-Cola (you know, we’ll just call him Coke) got to the plant or from whence he came. That said, he has been there for quite some time.
According to local residents, Coke has lived in the old factory’s trash-strewn yard for a “really long time.” One Temple Terrace resident detailed her years-long experience with the gator.
“[He’s] been there about 6-7 years! I have pictures of him at about 4 feet,” Alcia Hernandez wrote on Croc Encounters’ Facebook page.
That was years ago. Today, Coke is nine feet long — a bit on the shorter side for a gator.
Some people in Temple Terrace considered Coke a local celebrity and treated him as such. They used to feed the beast, throwing hams, chicken, and other treats into the Coca-Cola plant’s yard, despite feeding alligators being illegal in Florida.
That, however, was not a good idea for a couple of reasons.
First, it has led to Coke becoming accustomed to people and expecting them to hand him food. We probably don’t have to tell you why a hungry gator coming up to people is not a great thing.
Second, the constant supply of food has resulted in Coke getting fat. Like, really fat.
The alligator weighs nearly 500 pounds. Although the average weight of an alligator is more than that, you have to remember that Coke is also pretty short.
For his size, that’s a lot of package to carry around.
Gator Removal
Initially, Coke lived peacefully in the Coca-Cola plant’s fenced-in yard and didn’t cause any trouble. As the years went on, however, a big hole appeared in the plant’s deteriorating fencing.
Big enough that Coke could theoretically fit through it — even with all his chub. That started making a lot of locals nervous.
“I kind of got to check every time I come out the house,” resident Priscila Watson told WFLA.
Eventually, it became clear that Coke couldn’t stay in the neighborhood anymore. He still has his fans, though, and they were worried that their favorite gator would be unceremoniously eliminated.
Fortunately, it didn’t come to that. The job of removing the animal fell on Croc Encounters, a Tampa-based alligator park and nuisance wildlife removal service.
Due to his heft, the operation wasn’t probably the easiest the company has done. In the end, though, trapper Greg Pollock got Coke safely sealed in a big crate and transported him off the plant property.
A Healthier Diet
But where should the plus-sized alligator go? Well, he certainly couldn’t go back into the Florida swamps.
“Once people start feeding alligators, they become a nuisance by no fault of their own and must be removed from the wild as they begin to approach people for food,” Croc Encounters explained.
Fortunately, Coke has found a new home in the Croc Encounters park. There, he will also get help with his weight problem.
“This alligator is extremely overweight,” the park put it bluntly.
At Croc Encounters, Coca-Cola will live a healthier lifestyle and enjoy a diet that’s more suitable for his species than ham and lunch meat.
“All of our alligators get a mix of pellet diet. We’ll also feed [them] fish, we also feed chicken, we’ll do that on a regular basis, and hopefully he’ll slim down a bit,” Croc Encounters director John Panner told WFLA.
Now, Coca-Cola is well on his way to a healthy heft. We’re sure he’ll miss the honey-glazed hams, though.