Headless Alligator Found Floating in Unexpected Area Leaves Florida Community Shocked

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Headless Alligator Found Floating in Unexpected Area Leaves Florida Community Shocked

An alligator with no head or tail washed up up on the shores of a canal in Cape Coral, Florida, and no one knows how it got that way

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and residents speculated the gator’s death could be due to poachers or getting stuck under a boat

The alligator’s body was located and moved to deeper waters, so the decomposition process could progress naturally

A headless alligator is baffling a Florida community after the reptile washed up on its shores.

Those who live along the banks of a southeast canal in Cape Coral are used to a peaceful day-to-day life, with the exception of an odd dolphin or stingray sighting. But when Gloria Baenen smelled an overwhelmingly fishy odor near her pontoon boat, she stumbled upon an alligator that had both its head and tail missing, per

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“I said, well, someone said there was a gator but no head,” Baenen told the outlet. “When I went to check, I found it belly-up, floating near the boat.”

Wicki58/Getty

Stock image of Cape Coral

The reptile floated away shortly after it was spotted. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) led a search for the alligator’s body, starting in the nearby canals before enlisting the help of a search team and scent dogs.

The alligator’s body had decomposed, CBS reported, and was found in shallow water. The FWC team moved the reptile’s remains from the shallow body to a deeper one to allow the natural decomposition process to progress.

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FWC speculated the gator may have gotten caught underneath a pontoon boat, while Baenen suggested the alligator’s demise could be due to poachers. Regardless, the reptile’s death is under investigation, per CBS.

“I hope that whoever did it, if it was poached, they get caught,” Baenen said. “That’s not a good thing.”

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