Portion of South Greenway closed to allow “family time” for alligators

City of Fernandina Beach
April 20. 2020

The section of trail in the south Greenway that borders the creek where our celebrity mama alligator and family reside has been temporarily closed. Mama alligator has lived here for nearly 10 years with her offspring. Seasonally, she likes to haul herself onto the trail to bask. Unfortunately with the recent increase in human presence in the Greenway it has become impossible to maintain human – alligator social distancing. Please show her the respect she deserves by complying with this closure. As long as the closure is honored, other parts of the blue trail will remain open. The red and yellow trails may be used to access both Sadler Road and Jasmine Street trail heads.

Barricades and signs are now in place.

4 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Dr. ESP
Dr. ESP (@guest_57302)
3 years ago

Momma Gator has occasionally basked on the pathway for most of the 10 years we have lived here. And no problems. As usual, we are now being deprived of access to part of the Greenway because of a few inconsiderate jerks who don’t think the rules apply to them. I am sure there are some of us who would be willing to be Greenway monitors to ensure that the wildlife is given the respect it deserves.

Mark Tomes
Trusted Member
Mark Tomes(@mtomes)
3 years ago

Of the many people I have seen on the Greenway in the past 10 years enjoying the sight of Mama Gator and her babies, I have only seen one group harassing them one time: some young boys throwing something at them (boys will be boys? maybe so, but I talked to them to instill in them some wildlife etiquette, anyway, since their parents weren’t doing it). There are a LOT more people on the Greenway, so some chill time might be good for the gators. Also, anyone else noticing the 4- to 5-footers basking on the banks more often? There are at least 3 of them on the south part of the Greenway. They could be getting uncomfortably accustomed to people (and children and dogs)…

Jeff Ford
Jeff Ford (@guest_57331)
3 years ago

The beaches were closed because after beach in South Florida college spring breakers moved north and swarmed Jax beaches. After Jax beaches closed they came to Amelia Island. I walked on the beach on consecutive days and on day one everything was normal, not crowded, people maintaining separation. Next day it was like July 4. All college kids.

I understand why they did it and it was proper then. I think they could try to open and if the beach gets too crowded, or people are acting responsibly they can close them again.

Jeff Ford
Jeff Ford (@guest_57332)
3 years ago

This won’t work. The red and yellow trails are too narrow to handle the amount of traffic that is currently on the Greenway