Cadet one, Gator zero!

The educational experience of a lifetime!
“An environmental education student gets to feel the back of a young alligator on the refuge”
Please do observe the tape around the young Gator’s mouth to protect all involved!
Picture credit: Steve Hillebrand,  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Public Domain)


Just now while having our lunch, this story came on our local News and became an  instant must be reported story.
We do not have a lock on wildlife ignorance or abuse here in Lake County, but we must be a close runner-up.
Apparently a group of  young Police Cadets were at a facility in Tavares, here in Lake County and were  in training on how to handle Gators.
It is said that one of the Cadets  tripped and fell on top of the four-foot gator, (making it fairly young) which then clamped down on the Cadet’s hand and would not let go.
Please, try for a moment to understand the experience of having a quite large thing/person falling on top of you and what your immediate reaction might have been?
When the Gator did not let go of the Cadet’s hand, one of the FWC who were on hand to demonstrate, or instruct  the Police Cadets on how to properly and assuming, safely, deal with, or handle coming face to face with Gators in their daily duties or routines,   immediately shot and killed the Gator.
The person sitting directly across from me, whose Blog is sarcastically called,  ” This Is Florida Don’t You Know, “
in reference to the things that happen here every day,  that make us scratch our heads, immediately  asked this question:
” why would they be using a real alligator in this kind of training exercise with young, inexperienced Police Cadets and why wasn’t the Gator's mouth taped closed? “
As for me, I  have nothing more to say, I am completely  speechless.

You may read about this story here:
Gator shot after biting cadet’s hand during training exercise in Tavares