Alligators are out at the reservoir - MSNewsNow.com - Jackson, MS

Alligators are out at the reservoir

RANKIN COUNTY, MS (WLBT) - If you live near the waters of the Barnett Reservoir, or spend a lot of time there, this is the time of year you will start seeing alligators.

The warm sunshine is bringing the gators out and because the grasses around the reservoir are not yet thick and green, the alligators are much easier to see.  

Ricky Flynt, Alligator Program Coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks tells us, "We typically get a little spike in the number of calls this time of the year, simply because the alligators are coming out, and vegetation is so low, it makes it more visible for them to see, they are not necessarily what we would call nuisance alligators, it's just they are seeing them more, and so they are calling and responding out of fear." 

Flynt says there is an abundance of alligators at the Barnett Reservoir and says they are always trying to figure out ways to lengthen the hunting season for them to be taken legally.

It's inevitable that we are going to continue expanding our alligator hunting opportunities in the state of Mississippi."

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