Possible alligator sightings in Lake Marble Falls
Lake Marble Falls. Staff photo
Alligators could be lurking in Lake Marble Falls. A resident and the city’s Animal Control officer reportedly saw one or more of the toothy creatures in late July. No other sightings have been reported, and the Marble Falls Police Department is taking a live-and-let-live approach to the situation.
“(MFPD) did get a call about a woman seeing alligators (in Lake Marble Falls),” MFPD Capt. Jimmy Cole told DailyTrib.com on Monday, Aug. 5. “Our Animal Control officer did identify and see alligators.”
Cole said the Animal Control officer saw what they believed to be an alligator after responding to a call on July 26 in the Pecan Valley neighborhood near Lake Marble Falls. The caller said they spotted multiple alligators and estimated one of the animals to be about 5 feet long.
“We really don’t have any policies or procedures for handling alligators,” Cole said. “We don’t have to make a decision yet because it’s not an issue. Until (it is an issue), it’s just another animal—a wild animal.”
He said no other calls or sightings of alligators in the lake have happened since July 26.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologist Erin Wehland told DailyTrib.com it is not completely out of the question for an alligator to live in the Highland Lakes.
“Burnet County is within the known normal range for alligators, although it is approaching the western edge,” she wrote in an emailed response to questions from DailyTrib.com. “Alligators are a native species, and as long as they are not being a nuisance, they are left alone.”
Wehland said alligators typically avoid humans and that humans should avoid alligators. She stressed that people should not feed alligators to keep them from becoming desensitized to humans.
It is illegal for a private citizen to possess alligators in Texas without proper permitting.
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After a while, we’ll have crocodiles!