{"id":65920,"date":"2026-05-18T17:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=65920"},"modified":"2026-05-18T17:18:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:18:16","slug":"pcso-deputy-with-cowboy-hat-in-hand-wrangles-large-gator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/05\/18\/pcso-deputy-with-cowboy-hat-in-hand-wrangles-large-gator\/","title":{"rendered":"PCSO Deputy With Cowboy Hat In Hand Wrangles Large Gator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Talk about a quintessential “only in Florida” moment\u2014and right in Polk County’s backyard, no less!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office shared that photo of Deputy Angulo<\/strong> holding down a large alligator like he was casually breaking in a horse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Details<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • The Posture:<\/strong> Deputy Angulo was pictured fully mounted on the alligator’s back to keep it pinned.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The Style Points:<\/strong> He managed to keep the gator\u2019s snout clamped shut with one hand while effortlessly holding his cowboy hat in the other.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The Waiting Game:<\/strong> He stayed in that exact position, holding the reptile steady, until a licensed nuisance alligator trapper from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) arrived to officially take over.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Why Are They So Active Right Now?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    If it feels like there have been a lot of wayward gators making headlines recently, it’s not your imagination. According to the FWC, alligator courtship begins in April, followed by peak mating season in May and June<\/strong>. Because of this, mature gators (especially males) are constantly on the move looking for love, which frequently lands them in residential neighborhoods, construction sites, and roadways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    FWC Safety Reminder<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    With gator activity at its seasonal high, the FWC reminds everyone to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Keep your distance<\/strong> and never, under any circumstances, feed an alligator (it teaches them to associate humans with food).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Swim only during daylight hours<\/strong> and only in designated swimming areas, as gators are most active between dusk and dawn.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Keep pets on a leash<\/strong> and completely away from the water’s edge of fresh or brackish water.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      If you ever spot a gator that poses a threat to people, pets, or property, you can call the FWC\u2019s Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286)<\/strong> to get a professional trapper sent out\u2014though there’s no guarantee they’ll bring a cowboy hat!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Talk about a quintessential “only in Florida” moment\u2014and right in Polk County’s backyard, no less! The Polk County Sheriff’s Office shared that photo of Deputy Angulo holding down a large… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"12","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDVcL3BhdGNoLW1haW4taW1hZ2UtMThfX18xODEyMjk1NDU4Mi53ZWJwP2ZpdD0xMDI0JTJDNzY4JnNzbD0xIiwidHh0IjoiUENTTyBEZXB1dHkgV2l0aCBDb3dib3kgSGF0IEluIEhhbmQgV3JhbmdsZXMgTGFyZ2UgR2F0b3IiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImRvaXMiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.sKhNJELKTdHBObZRW0Mba3y1lJ2R9t9Df_-w0uhrOWUMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA1XC9wYXRjaC1tYWluLWltYWdlLTE4X19fMTgxMjI5NTQ1ODItMTAyNHg3Njgud2VicCIsInR4dCI6IlBDU08gRGVwdXR5IFdpdGggQ293Ym95IEhhdCBJbiBIYW5kIFdyYW5nbGVzIExhcmdlIEdhdG9yIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.C2RIjOld6Q5px1f0GQ4KHcDz43gdvuoQyFYa89IMFAsMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[14639],"class_list":["post-65920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-pcso-deputy-with-cowboy-hat-in-hand-wrangles-large-gator"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65920"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65923,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65920\/revisions\/65923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}