Villagers who have been wondering about former Villages icon Larry the Alligator are in luck.
Officials at Gatorland in Orlando, where Larry now lives, released a video showing the 11-foot, 700-pound alligator in his new habitat. In the video, he has his head resting on another alligator’s back while sunning himself and almost appears to be smiling, much like he did in many photographs taken of him when he lived in a pond beside a multi-modal trail in Brownwood.
“That’s 100 percent Larry,” said the video’s host, Savannah Boan, a former radio personality known as “Savannah Swamp Girl” who serves as an education ambassador at the popular attraction. “I feel like he wants to come over here,” she adds, as Larry watches her every move.
Boan also pointed out that Larry, who is easily identifiable because he’s missing a small chunk of his tail, also has a bit of orange on his teeth and inside his mouth. She said that’s from iron in the water where he lived before coming to Gatorland.
“For everybody that’s been looking for Larry, today he made an appearance,” Boan said. “He’s got friends now.”
Larry was moved to Gatorland from his longtime home in the Brownwood pond after District Property Management received reports of him becoming too comfortable around people. District Manager Richard Baier said they also had received reports of some residents feeding the large alligator, which is illegal in the State of Florida.
After being relocated, Larry was featured in a Gatorland video and photos as he started getting acclimated to his new home. In that video, Gatorland President and CEO Mark McHugh said they were thrilled to have Larry join the roughly 2,000 alligators that live at the facility.
“Larry’s a rock star, no doubt about it,” he said. “The people at The Villages loved him. He’s a great animal. But then again, he’s a big, 11-foot, 700-pound alligator and that’s a dangerous animal. With all the kids, the grandkids and the people around The Villages, it was a bad situation.”
McHugh said Larry definitely can look forward to his time at Gatorland.
“He’ll live it out on big lakes with fish and turtles in it, female alligators, he’s going to have a great life,” McHugh said.
Gatorland also mounted Larry’s sign from the fence in The Villages to a railing next to his new lake. And they encouraged visitors from Florida’s Friendliest Hometown and other fans of Larry to come out and see him.
“We will personally try to hunt him down and see if we can locate him for you,” said Donny Aldarelli, one of the many alligator experts at the park.
Larry, who even has his own Facebook page, was moved shortly after a video, show above, surfaced of him slowly walking across the multi-modal path beside his pond. Shortly after news broke that Larry had been moved, activity on that page and other social media platforms increased dramatically.
Many fans weighed in with their thoughts. Some were upset that the didn’t get to say goodbye to the longtime pond dweller. And others expressed outrage over the fact that large alligator had been taken from the community, with one going so as far to suggest that a “grouchy Villager” must have called and complained so he or she could walk their dog closer to the lake – something wildlife officials warn is never a good idea in the Sunshine State.
