Crocodile Loves Staying In South Miami

SOUTH MIAMI (CBS4) - A nine-foot, nearly 200-pound crocodile doesn't want to live anywhere else but South Miami.

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials said they've removed the reptile from the community twice already and dropped at locations as far as 20 miles away. But every time the crocodile finds its way back home to South Miami.

"Yeah, it was walking right in the front of the house," recalled Javier Tobares.

He took several snapshots of the crocodile as FWC officers were roping it up back in July. Tobares and many others are surprised to see him return making several appearances in the last few days.

"We were watching the ducks and there was momma duck and there were three small ducks," said 14 year old Felipe Acosta. "This huge thing just went out of nowhere and snapped it and took a duck down and you saw the bubbles and there was swishing."

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials said at this point the crocodile hasn't been aggressive with humans or pets so they don't expect to trap it again. If things change then they will reevaluate it.

They said both times that they did capture the crocodile and take it away they tied magnets to its snout in an attempt to try and disorient its innate honing system. But both times that attempt failed… the crocodile returning back to South Miami.

"The crocodile has a very sophisticated honing system and its happened to us on several occasions, where we remove a crocodile from a specific location and they have a tendency to return," said Officer Jorge Pino, of Florida Fish and Wildlife.