Despite 3 alligator deaths in Florida in June, guns, cows & dogs killed more people in the US than the reptile

Florida residents may now be wary of going into lagoons and rivers after the spate of alligator attacks in the state. But with an estimated alligator population of 1.3 million in the state, its average of 0.35 deaths annually is lower than other causes of deaths from other animals or firearms.

The death of Lane Graves was the third recorded in June, preceded by reports of residents seeing last week an alligator emerging from the water with a dead human body in its mouth and South Florida police spotting two alligators feasting on a human corpse in the Everglades on the first week of June.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, since it started tracking human deaths in 1948 caused by alligators, lists 24 victims, including the two-year-old boy. In contrast, in 2015 alone, more than 1,000 residents have been killed by a gunfire, and on Sunday, 49 more were added from the Pulse disco massacre.

Even deaths from other animals across the nation were higher at 20 by cows and 28 by dogs. However, counting non-fatal attacks, Florida recorded 383 alligator attacks on humans since 1948, reports Mashable.

Nick Wiley, executive director of the commission, notes that gators do not normally feed on humans. He believes the alligator that snatched Lane likely mistook the tot for a dog or a raccoon. “People – even small people – are not their typical prey,” USA Today quotes Wiley.

Ricky Flynt, coordinator of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Park Alligator Program, reminds people not to feed alligators. He explains that the reptile start to lose their fear of humans and associate them with a source of food if they see people feeding gators.

With an estimated 6.7 million acres of suitable habitat across the state, alligators could be found almost anywhere in Florida, according to Jack Hana, director emeritus of Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Like what happened at the Seven Seas Lagoon, alligators can snatch at a prey along a shoreline, but there is no evidence the reptile chases after humans or other animals on land, reports CBS.

Despite the recent spate of alligator attacks on humans in the state, Florida is not amiss in its alligator management system since it has dozens of trappers who wear camouflage and the state sells a limited number of hunting permits. However, the use of independent contractors has been question by residents amid reports that in 2012, the trappers were dissatisfied with their pay, reports CS Monitor.

With an estimated one gator for every 10 to 15 Floridians, the alligator has become so comfortable with humans that one was seen walking on a golf course, another one using the pedestrian lane to cross a street and one jumping into the shower with a woman. All that, however, may change as the last victim this month is not a nameless corpse but a two-year-old boy from Nebraska, vacationing on the happiest place on Earth.

VIDEO: Alligators in Florida’s Everglades