Wave of massive and aggressive alligators is spreading across the South

Newsweek posted an article Wednesday with an attention-grabbing headline that declared 1 million alligators are expected to converge on Florida this week.

That might sound like the makings of a B-horror film, but hold on. The story later says the state has an estimated total of 1.3 million alligators in 67 counties and they are out "looking for love" during this year's mating season.

Temperatures are also warming up, and that is bringing out the alligators.

What happened?

The so-called “alligator invasion” started Saturday, when an “aggressive” 11-foot reptile was found on a porch of a home in The Villages near Orlando, according to the report.

“The minute that it seen a person it immediately, you now, started to hiss and come toward the person and as I walked over closer to it, it wanted to bite me,” Al Roberts of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told WKMG-TV.

No one was home at the time, and no injuries were reported as the alligator was captured by trappers and hauled away.

KTVT-TV also chimed in, reporting that "a wave of huge alligators" are "wreaking havoc across southern states."

In addition to the above scenario, the TV station noted a report from Jacksonville, Florida, where an alligator spooked shoppers in the parking lot of a Target store on Sunday. Trappers removed the alligator before anyone was injured.

The other instance happened in Cleveland, Texas, where an 11-foot gator was sitting along the roadside on U.S. Route 59.



“The gator was just there and not moving. He would rise up and hiss at them anytime someone would get close,” resident Chance Ward told the Houston Chronicle.

And this week in Mulberry, Florida, a woman, who was going to church, captured a cellphone video of a huge alligator plowing through a barbed-wire fence.

Should people be worried?

As Newsweek points out, the chance of being hurt by an unprovoked alligator is small, about 1 in 3.2 million, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

But caution is advised, especially near waterfronts, Florida officials said. Precautions include swimming only in designated areas during daylight hours. People are also advised to never attempt to approach or feed alligators.