I have had a gator experience. I was driving north on 37 and in the distance I saw something in the roadway. As I approached, doing about 75, I saw it was an alligator! He sat in my lane staring at me, I hit the brakes & changed lanes to avoid him. He made it safely across the road. I could not imagine what an alligator was doing there at that section as it is just farm/ranchland. I found out later there are some small lakes & many stock ponds around. I felt fortunate to have been able to see such a creature outside the confines of a zoo.

Yes gators do kill livestock, but so do we. Gators also kill people & pets, but again so do we. Gators cannot reason, they do not know "right from wrong", they are acting on instinct. So how can we judge/kill them for doing what is instinctual for them when we do the same thing which is not naturally instinctive to us?

VBB,
Well said. The bacteria in the reservoir and other places these people swim is far more dangerous than a gator. I'm sure there are "Swim At Your Own Risk" signs posted at Coleto like there are at Lake Texana and other state parks. Swimmers know the risks of confronting gators and snakes in freshwater lakes and rivers.
All stories like these do is put unwarranted fear into readers and encourage all the trigger-happy "Bubbas" out there to shoot at anything moving in the water so they can get their picture in the paper, too.
The Advocate called this creature a "monster" but deer kill many more people every year than gators. The Advocate even used Steve Irwin's "Croykie" in the headline. Irwin is doing the "death roll" in his grave right now after this.
There could have at least been an attempt to transport the creature to nearby Green Lake, where there is no swimming and gators the size of this one and much bigger exist with minimal contact with humans.

We say we wish to be good stewards of our planet & then turn around and kill anything that gets in our way or we consider a nuisance. In 30 years this gator hasn't been accused of killing anybody, he should have been left alone. We all know gators are in and around our lakes & rivers so it is our responsibilty to make sure our kids are alert & aware.
Why people enjoy swimming in stagnant, murky water is beyond me. There are many other dangers lurking in the water besides gators.

Poor 30 year old gator manages to live that long and then gets killed for being a nuisance.I am invading HIS space when I choose to swim at Colteo, not the other way around.

Did the gator attack anyone or show any agressive characteristics toward humans? The answer is no. Any decent-sized body of fresh water in our area is home to one or more gators. You may not see them, but they see you. This gator's only crime was that it was spotted by someone during daylight hours. It has probably been swimming the Coleto Creek Reservoir waters for years. Please, Advocate, don't try to instill fear into your readers by sensationalizing a story like this. You do your readers and wildlife a great disservice.

I agree with VBB. The water is too nasty to go swimming in.

But not because of the gator.