Alligator living with mouth taped shut since December has been captured

by: Kaycee Sloan, Annie Mapp

Posted: Feb 16, 2023 / 08:15 PM CST

Updated: Feb 16, 2023 / 08:15 PM CST

BRANDON, Fla. (WFLA) — An alligator that’s been living in a Florida neighborhood with its mouth taped shut since December has finally been captured.

The alligator was officially captured in the Lumsden Reserve neighborhood of Brandon on Thursday after previous attempts to extract the gator from the area failed.

Before the animal was captured, neighborhood resident Amber Lock shared photos of the alligator with 8 On Your Side. She called the action “inhumane.”

It was previously reported that Lock believed the animal’s mouth was taped shut when a trapper attempted to remove the alligator back in December, but it’s unclear why the animal was left there.

An agency spokeswoman explained the delay was due to “confusion caused by two different permit requests made to two different trappers by members of the public.”

She said a trapper went to the location on Feb. 11 and saw the gator, but it disappeared from view anytime anyone came close to the water.

A new permit was issued on Feb. 12. The spokeswoman said they were sending a contracted nuisance alligator trapper to the location to remove it from the area.

The female alligator was measured in at almost 5 feet long and is being taken to Gatorama Inc. in Palmdale, Florida, according to the contracted FWC trapper.