Lurking in Hurricane Milton's floodwaters: debris, bacteria and gators

There are a lot of dangers hidden in floodwaters: debris, bacteria, sewage.

In Florida, add alligators, snakes and other wildlife to the list of things to worry about in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

"Alligators & #snakes may be seen more frequently in areas with flooding," the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission posted on social media Thursday afternoon. "Keep them at a distance & give them space."

That's no idle warning: Social media posts have shown alligators walking along rain-soaked streets, bellowing at the storm and even making themselves at home in a flooded house. NBC2, a television station in Fort Myers, posted a video from a viewer of an alligator chomping at a car door.

Chris Gillette, an alligator handler, educator and photographer with more than 1.3 million followers on his Instagram account, @gatorboys_chris, told USA TODAY floodwaters in Florida are displacing wildlife as well as people.

"But it's not a monster movie out there," he added. Alligators don't generally see adult humans as prey – but they might chomp on small animals, especially dogs, and children should not be in floodwaters if possible.

Gillette, with Bellowing Acres Alligator Sanctuary in Putnam County, Florida, said people should "watch where you put your hands, don't walk where you can't see what's in the water if you can avoid doing it," and keep in mind that the greatest danger in floodwaters is that they're filled with raw sewage.

Snakes, he added, are not interested in people, and, like us, are just looking for a dry spot.

"They just want to find higher ground, so they're not trying to nest in your house," Gilette said. "They're just trying not to drown."

Contact Phaedra Trethan by email at [email protected], on X (formerly Twitter) @wordsbyphaedra, or on Threads @by_phaedra.