Alligator Terrorism

I jokingly blogged about the alligator attack last week, but since then, there have been two more. After only killing 17 people in 58 years, alligators are now on the offensive, with three separate attacks within days, near Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, and Gainesville. Obviously, they've been planning these coordinated acts of terrorism for some time now. I bet the alligators are working with Bin Laden.

Now they're definitely more dangerous than bears. Maybe this is what the president should have been speaking about.

Slate's got an alternate theory for why this is happening: "As it gets warmer, gators get hungry and mobilize to find prey." The New York Times concurs, but points out several additional factors:

But the growing population of both people and alligators in the state, and the desire of people to live on lakes, ponds and waterways that are the alligators' natural habitat, are increasing the chances of confrontations, the wildlife agency has said. State officials also said the recent drought in the area has produced water levels lower than usual, increasing competition among alligators for food and territory. The shallower waters are heating up more rapidly than in other years, they said.
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In addition, May is the peak mating season for alligators, with big males traveling overland to find mates. This happens as the reptiles respond to warmer temperatures after several month of near-hibernation during the winter.

So, the alligators are pissed off about what people did to the Everglades?

And, on the climate change note, check out the trailer for Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth.