A Florida woman is fighting to keep her 6-foot-long pet alligator in her home.
The 125-pound reptile named Rambo wears clothes, rides on the back of a motorcycle and has a bedroom in Mary Thorn’s home in Lakeland.
Thorn has had a license for the alligator she’s kept for 11 years, but it recently grew to 6-feet and wildlife officials say that size alligator must have 2.5 acres of land. Thorn tells the Orlando Sentinel that even if she had land available, Rambo can’t be left outdoors because of sensitivity to sunlight.
Thorn takes Rambo to schools and charity events to teach people about reptiles. She says she has trained him not to bite.
Florida wildlife commission spokesman Gary Morse says Thorn’s case is under investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
What happens when the reptile attacks the people around it? It will happen eventually.
I had a real nice Malamute and thought all would be forever a tame animal even though it is real a breed of wolf. The wolf did come out and I have a long scar on my face to remember him by. The animal showed lots of remorse for the bite but the scar is still there for me to remember a lack of caution can have devastating and long lasting results. To be certain I’ve never extended trust to an animal again nor will I should I live to be a thousand years old.
My dad told me that when he was a teenager, his dad had a dog that was more wolf than it was dog –( I’m 80 BTW) –and the only person who could feed the animal was his dad…..the dog never barked but he did howl regularly……why anyone would want to keep such an animal is beyond my comprehension…
An alligator is a reptile and does not have a brain which will allow it to form attaqchments it probaly as chemically bonded with this person as “mother” and as feeder. As long as “mother” feeds ,mother of course will not be attacked, should alligator get hungry say in the presence of a small child or animal the ” catch food” instinct behavior will take over’
This woman is a nut case who uses an animal to fill her supressed motherhood needs,like many childless women. It is unfortunate but she at the very least needs to demonstrate that she is maintaining the reptile in a safe enclosure and that the animal is getting enough exercise or proper care to see that it does not impose a hazard to the neighbors. It cannot be released to the wild because it has no learned hunting behaviors It seems to me that a zoo or an alligator farm would be suitable
An alligator is a reptile and does not have a brain which will allow it to form attachments it probably as chemically bonded with this person as “mother” and as feeder. As long as “mother” feeds ,mother of course will not be attacked, should alligator get hungry say in the presence of a small child or animal the ” catch food” instinct behavior will take over’
This woman is a nut case who uses an animal to fill her suppressed motherhood needs,like many childless women. It is unfortunate but she at the very least needs to demonstrate that she is maintaining the reptile in a safe enclosure and that the animal is getting enough exercise or proper care to see that it does not impose a hazard to the neighbors. It cannot be released to the wild because it has no learned hunting behaviors It seems to me that a zoo or an alligator farm would be suitable