Remember that crocodile on the beach? It’s back in Hollywood
Tagged reptile shows up again, this time in gated community’s lake
HOLLYWOOD – The 8-foot female crocodile with a toothy grin and a yellow tag on her tail seems to have a thing for Hollywood.
She first showed up on Nov. 20 on Hollywood beach and promptly drew a gawking crowd of tourists and locals before being captured and moved to an undisclosed spot by state wildlife officers.
A few days later, the 145-pound American crocodile showed up in West Lake Village, a gated Hollywood neighborhood that borders the Intracoastal. After a few weeks, she moved to Oleta River State Park in North Miami Beach and then to Key Biscayne. But in recent days, she resurfaced in West Lake Village, creating quite a stir.
“She may be looking for a mate,” said Mark Parry, the lead crocodile response agent for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Her yellow tag number — 22 — helped confirm she was the same croc who boogied onto the beach. Parry estimates she’s anywhere from 12 to 15 years old and suspects she was trying to make her way inland when she wound up in West Lake Village again.
“They are wild animals,” Parry said. “They move around. She has a bit more wanderlust than most.”
West Lake Village, located be-
tween two nature preserves, makes for perfect crocodile territory, he said.
Some homeowners liked the idea of having a croc in the ‘hood but others worried she might make a meal out of a pet or even a child.
Parry spent the past few days reassuring residents that the croc would not go on the attack and handing out brochures on how to live with crocodile. But on Tuesday afternoon, he and a helper whisked her away in a truck as dozens of residents recorded the scene on their phones.
It was for her own safety, he said. He worried she might get hit by a car while crossing a road or worse. One man had already threatened to shoot her despite being warned it’s a felony to harass or harm a crocodile.
Crocodiles are protected in Florida and “you can get up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine for throwing a rock at one,” Parry said.
In the past several days, neighbors have snapped photos of the croc at the edge of the lake and crawling along a neighborhood street in the wee hours, heading for one of the lakes in the 700-home community south of Sheridan Street.
Parry said he was taking her to a new spot where she can go about her business without causing such a commotion.
“We’ll find an appropriate place with a good habitat,” he said. “It doesn’t mean she’ll stay there.”
Some were sorry to see her go.
“She’ll be back,” Tanya Ryan said. “She’s going to be our new mascot.”
Coby Senick said she’d become the rock star of the neighborhood.
“I want her to stay,” he said. “Isn’t that nuts? This is the most exciting thing we’ve ever had happen here.”