Photo: Robert Loe / Moment / Getty Images
Cape Coral, FL - An unusual discovery in a southeast Cape Coral neighborhood has left residents shocked and wildlife officials searching for answers after a headless, tailless alligator was found floating in a residential canal.
Gloria Baenen, a longtime resident, first noticed the animal after being drawn to the canal by an overwhelming fishy smell.
To her surprise, she found the mutilated alligator belly-up near her pontoon boat.
“Someone said there was a gator with no head,” she recalled. “When I went to check, there it was, floating right there.”
Baenen said she frequently sees marine life like stingrays and dolphins in the area, but never an alligator, let alone one in such a disturbing condition.
Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) arrived on scene and initially struggled to locate the remains.
The alligator carcass appeared to have drifted or become lodged under a boat.
Eventually, scent dogs helped officials relocate the severely decomposed remains in a nearby shallow stretch of the canal, now mostly skeletal and covered in flies.
FWC officers later removed the carcass and relocated it to deeper waters to allow for natural decomposition.
While no official cause of death has been released, investigators are looking into whether the alligator was allegedly poached, an illegal and punishable offense in the state of Florida.
“If someone did this on purpose, I really hope they’re caught,” Baenen said. “It’s just not right.”
The FWC confirmed that the incident is under active investigation.