Mom shoots,eats alligator Mother says reptile had come dangerously close to children

Josey1

Woman admits to killing alligatorJOE CALLAHANSenior Staff WriterFORT McCOY - A Fort McCoy woman who killed an alligator with a shotgun last month and cooked gator tail for dinner admitted Monday to shooting the state-protected reptile because it had gotten dangerously close to her children.Donna Marie Brown, 31, of Fort McCoy, who pleaded guilty Monday in misdemeanor court, said she killed the alligator in mid-February after she spotted it behind her home, lying on the bank of a small creek in a swampy area near Bully Lake.Brown retrieved a Remington 12-gauge shotgun and fired.''I wasn't going to stand for it,'' said Brown, who moved from Tampa several months ago. ''I know it's illegal, but what am I supposed to do? I've been taught to eat what you kill. I've had alligator tail before, so I decided to cook it.''Her husband, Michael Robert Brown, 32, pleaded guilty to possession of an alligator after he dumped the rest of the carcass in a remote area near his home. The Browns each received three months' probation, and each was ordered to perform 20 hours of community service.They were each ordered to pay $308 in fines and court costs. Adjudication of guilt was withheld, meaning the charges will not appear on their permanent record if they successfully complete probation, Assistant State Attorney Susan Simmons said.Lt. Joy Hill, regional spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said wildlife officers Brian Lambert and Kevin Steinke received an anonymous tip about the killing and went to the Browns' Northeast 207th Lane home to investigate.They first talked to Marie Brown, who denied killing the alligator and allowed officers to search her freezer for evidence. Not finding any meat, officers then interviewed one of the Browns' children, who said his mother killed, cleaned and cooked an alligator for dinner.Both Browns were then given citations, ordering them to appear Monday in court.''Alligators are protected by law because they are on a list of animals of special concern,'' said Hill, adding the commission supervises alligator harvesting activities in the fall. These hunts are to help reduce alligator populations in certain lakes throughout the state.Joe Callahan can be reached at joe.callahan@starbanner.com or paged at 898-9649. http://www.starbanner.com/articles/news/1089.shtml

Rembrandt

...heehee, every parent strives to teach their kids the value of telling the truth and doing the honorable thing,...then the role model parent lies and gets caught, pays a fine, and looses any respect from the child....

offeror

That's strange. I just watched a documentary about a Florida wildlife official whose job it was to snare and remove "nuisance alligators," a legal category for alligators which come too close to human habitats looking for food, and which are then always caught, destroyed and used for their skin. But a resident can't shoot one that comes too close? Weird.

idsman75

The offenses won't appear on their "permanant records". Riiiight. I've heard that so many times. Applicants for military service have been told over and over again by judges and lawyers that their record will be clean and charges will be dismissed after their community service is completed. Suuuuure. That's why I go down to the juvenile courts and the county and municipal courts where the charges pop right up on the computers which say that they were dismissed after community service was completed. In other words, the record of the crime is there and the only reason it was "dropped" was because they had to do something to appease the courts. What a joke! Then they are told that their juvenile records are sealed anyways. Hah! The only reason this was said in this story was to save themselves from the appearance of being heartless towards a woman that was protecting her family. That would have been one heck of a waste of good meat if they just threw the whole thing away.

218Beekeep

She should have just eased up to it,popped it between the eyes once with a 22 long rifle,from about 5 feet away...22s are quiet that way. .218

Submariner .

THATS RIGHT TRY TO CLEAR AN INTERPOL BACKGROUND CHECK WITH SOMETHING SUPPOSEDLY "CLEARED FROM YOUR RECORD"

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Truck Driver,Submarine Veteran,Rusty Wallace fan,and piss poor typist

idsman75

It doesn't take anything beyond a simple police or court check to find things that are allegedly sealed or expunged from the record. So far I've caught everything before ENTNAC did.

robsguns

What law does Florida go by? Its illegal to question a child without a parent or legal counsel present. I'd have gotten the whole thing thrown out, if it was only the testimony of the children that was used against her.

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SSgt Ryan E. Roberts, USMC[This message has been edited by robsguns (edited 03-16-2002).]

Iconoclast

Sounds like basically good people who knew they had done something technically illegal and didn't wish to go further w/ it, but I agree w/ the good Sgt., even an amateur could have made the charges go away.