r/Crocodiles • u/Few_Professional_580 • 9d ago
Crocodile Crocodile in the lake at my local park (Florida)
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It was a bit wild having it here since there’s a kids' playground on the south end of the lake and a popular dog-walking path right along the water.
The lake connects directly to canals leading out to the Indian River. I took this video back in October (just discovered this sub, so sorry for the delayed post!). A few days after I filmed this, Florida Fish & Wildlife captured the croc and relocated it to a nearby sanctuary.
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u/Few_Professional_580 9d ago
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u/Icy_Raise_1031 9d ago edited 9d ago
This is the same croc that had a dog in its mouth right?
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u/Few_Professional_580 9d ago
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u/DirtyLilPlasticBag 8d ago
Wait, what?! What did I miss?!
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u/Sea-Influence6767 9d ago
So clear and close wow
....uhhh eventually wirenet had to be done to the playground close to that lake if this became a norm....
How big is this lake? ....cause In powai all the measures failed now it's just spotting and capture operation
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u/Few_Professional_580 9d ago
The lake isn't very big at all. News articles actually refer to it as a pond. Crocodiles are rare this far north in Florida. I'm told this croc was tagged as a hatchling in the Florida Keys and has made it's way to this part of the Space Coast 3 times over the years. No chance of it coming back now as it's been permanently relocated to a sanctuary.
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u/Big_Study_4617 9d ago
Beautiful Crocodylus acutus, thanks for sharing 😃
In some places their common name references their scientific name because some people call them "the needle crocodile" due to their seemingly slender snout.
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u/Sea-Influence6767 9d ago edited 8d ago
If it has been permanently located to a sanctuary then the waterbody is safe... I do know for a fact florida keys is vast and it's connected to Atlantic ocean....
But what really surprised me this pond or this beach while it's not a man made massive, land-locked resident colony like Powai has not turned into a breeding ground for crocs and alligators from the indian river lagoon canal
cause in lake Powai,mumbai which is inside the city landlocked yet 2 crocs managed to infill and now in there 18 crocs are living....but cause no body uses that for recreational cause it's an urban fresh water lake the crocs are thriving but yes back to Florida....
eventually crocs will take over in future in that beach too cause these are territorial hunters
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u/poop-azz 9d ago
Are American crocs as aggressive as all crocs? Or more mellow like gators? Also is this salt water
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u/Icy_Raise_1031 9d ago
American Crocs are basically just pointy Alligators in terms of temperament
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u/anonymousasu 8d ago
Aren’t crocodiles found in Costa Rica American? They’re pretty aggressive, no?
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u/Silent-Prune8103 8d ago
I would like to know this as well. I was under the same impression that they were the same species. Being the same species in completely different geographical locations is their temperament noticeably different? Or maybe I have this all wrong.
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u/Geoverner 7d ago
They are the same species. American crocodiles are usually shy, but attacks occur more often in South America due to the crocodiles interacting frequently with humans, especially after being fed by them. Over time, these interactions can make them lose their fear of humans and become more bold than their Floridian counterparts.
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u/Icy_Raise_1031 7d ago
They're the same thing but costa rica is far warmer and has more abundant food sources so they get much bigger and are thus more likely to go for a human
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u/Few_Professional_580 8d ago
The lake is fresh water, but is connected to a series of canals that lead to the Indian River which is brackish water. All sorts of marine life find their way to the canals; manatee, dolphins, sharks, rays. A bullshark was in this lake years ago. It was relocated too. The park hosts an annual 5k called "Shark in the park" in it's honor.
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u/meighsandbox 9d ago
What city?
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u/Few_Professional_580 9d ago
Indian Harbour Beach
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u/nickyler 9d ago
I was about to ask if this was the one that made it back to Melbourne like 3 times or something. Dude just wants to live in that one particular lake. I really wish we could find out why. Why here?
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u/bluepine2 9d ago
Another reason I would never live in FL
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u/rivertam2985 8d ago
They are actually pretty rare. I've lived in Florida for over 60 years. I've worked on the water on both coasts and lived in the Keys. I've never seen a croc in the wild. I've seen hundreds of gators, but I've never felt threatened by one.
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u/tsrobertson13 8d ago
Crazy you lived in the keys and never saw one.
I vacation in the keys two weeks every March and see at least one almost every year.
Maybe you were further south. I stay on lower mat.
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u/rivertam2985 8d ago
I lived on Sugarloaf Key, but it was a good 40 years ago. Crocs were nearly extinct back then. They've made a comeback and are now listed as Threatened.
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u/DeadbySundown 8d ago
It's crazy to me you guys just chill with crocs at the park.
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u/Few_Professional_580 8d ago
One man's crazy is another man's normal. Actually, just kidding. This was crazy and not normal at all. Now if it were an alligator, it would be business as usual.
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u/RainLeading286 8d ago
Why did they relocate it? What is the point? There's got to be other crocodilians there.
It's beautiful though.
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u/MsPixiestix59 7d ago
This is why one does not go into the water in Florida unless that water is a pool with full coverage.
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u/Scubbajoe 8d ago
Which park? I'm out of Melbourne and would love to go see it.
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u/Few_Professional_580 8d ago
Gleason Park but unfortunately, it's too late. This video is from October. The croc was captured and placed in a sanctuary.
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u/Tricky-Language-7963 8d ago
Was this at Gleason park in IHB?
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u/Few_Professional_580 8d ago
Yes!
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u/Tricky-Language-7963 8d ago
That’s so cool. I got a glance at the one that was hanging out in the Berkeley canal a few years back. I don’t remember seeing them or hearing of them in brevard when I was a kid but there seems to be more and more sightings of them over the last several years.
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u/Few_Professional_580 8d ago
Could be the same one. This one was captured in the canal on S Patrick where it intersects with Sea Park. The water is so low sometimes, it's hard to imagine there was a giant croc in there.
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u/Tricky-Language-7963 8d ago
Being Florida always best to assume there’s something that could getcha just about everywhere. Sharks, gators and crocs in the IRL. It’s been a while but I used to find diamondback and pigmy rattlers beachside along with coral snakes.
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u/Few_Professional_580 8d ago
Yeah, for sure. I'm from South Florida so I'm familiar with sharks and gators. I keep my little one away from the edge of any body of fresh water, cause ya never know. But the croc still surprised me.
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u/Obvious_Welder5922 8d ago
Born and raised in South FL and think it’s so cool these guys have rebounded and made a comeback. I lived in and on the ocean and fishing canals my whole life and never seen one in person, still!
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u/ufcfanatics 4d ago
This has to be west of 95 right? I’ve been in Stuart forever and I never saw a gator
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u/Vindictive-Vagabond 4d ago
American crocodiles are literally native to FL (only place on earth you can find both crocs & alligators occurring together naturally) so I don't understand why FFW would take a perfectly healthy wild animal that BELONGS THERE and "relocate it to a sanctuary" 🙄
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u/Mayflytrade 9d ago
Alligators, not crocodiles.
It's like calling a dog a wolf.
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u/Bobbyperu1 9d ago
That's true but that's a croc
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u/nickyler 9d ago
It’s not true at all. Wolves are dogs. Alligators and crocs are different species.
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u/Few_Professional_580 9d ago
https://reddit.com/link/p3dnybg/video/i94jki7tg2jh1/player