Gator Boys’ Paul Bedard Put Skills to Use Hauling Gator from Family’s Lawn
OutdoorHub Reporters 05.22.13
Alligator trappers Paul Bedard and Jimmy Riffle make a living by trapping and removing nuisance alligators from residential areas in the Florida Everglades. Here, the scaly reptiles find themselves trapped in backyards, houses, and even occasionally lounging in a swimming pool. Animal Planet’s Gator Boys follows Bedard and Riffle as they use their talents to rein in large and sometimes dangerous gators. Recently, Bedard found himself on the local news when he arrived to haul an eight-foot animal off of a Parkland family’s porch during a live report.
The Castaneda family was celebrating Mother’s Day when they discovered the alligator bumping up against the front door. According to WPLG, they initially thought it was a mother’s day prank. Soon they realized the large reptile was not somebody’s idea of a joke and began making calls. Among the first to arrive was WPLG reporter Ben Kennedy, who waited with the family for animal control specialists. Unexpectedly, none other than Bedard responded. The experienced trapped approached the gator carefully and began dragging it from the home by the tail.
“That thing was lightning fast,” Bedard told Kennedy, “You saw the way he was jumping at me and even taking little a few run steps at me? That’s a dangerous animal.”
The animal was eventually subdued and loaded onto a truck, where it will be transported to wildlife officials. WPLG’s report can be seen below:
