Open Blog–Crocodiles

Katie Mullins

Blog entry 3

18 February 2020

            In recent years, there has been a lot of discussion about certain animals being considered pests or nuisances in neighborhoods. Many people complain that they don’t understand where these animals are coming from, until it’s pointed out that the land we have been building on was, at one point, that animal’s home. This is happening across the United States, but for the sake of this blog entry, we’ll just look at Florida and their relationship to crocodilians.

            In an article in Smithsonian magazine, Naomi Shavin notes the problems that are now facing the native crocodilian species. Climate change and habitat destruction are pushing humans and crocodilians closer and closer together in proximity. As one might guess, living nearer to all sorts of alligators and crocodiles poses a problem to both humans and domestic animals. Considering this situation with terms from class, the rhetorical situation here would be the issue of humans living too close to crocodilians. While a number of people want to preserve and save these species, there are also a number of people who think that all crocodilians are bad, bloodthirsty killers, and wouldn’t miss them if they suddenly disappeared.

The exigence in this case is what can be done to protect these species from climate change and habitat loss. Pushing humans and crocodilians into close quarters with each other is a terrible idea. While not always dangerous, when these reptiles attack, it often ends up being deadly. However the other issue that arises with that is that crocodilians are an essential part of the ecosystem, and we can’t just eliminate every single alligator living in Florida, especially since there are estimated to be 1.2 million of them (Shavin).

The determinate response from people would be the natural fear that most people have of any member of the crocodilian family. Reptiles are a common fear, and given the harm that these species can cause to humans makes it logical that some people might be uncomfortable living near or physically being around them. The indeterminate response comes from whether or not people care about habitat loss. With the divide in opinions on climate change in the U.S., it’s difficult to tell whether people will think destroying part of a natural habitat to build something else is a good or bad idea.

The main audience here, perhaps, would be Florida residents who live the closest to the areas that crocodilians are starting to move into. These are the people who would have to worry about their children or their dogs being outside with one in the yard. In that same vein, the audience for this rhetorical situation probably is not people in states that are not facing this problem. There could be similar cases in other states that might make those residents also part of the audience; perhaps people who have trouble with bears or coyotes. The fact remains that the only people who really have a say on changing any of this is the residents of Florida. The constraints for this situation, in terms of what could change, would be environmental regulations or species protections. Certain areas cannot be destroyed if they are protected, much in the same way that hunting of some crocodilians may be illegal. However, some crocodilians are not protected under various wildlife preservation acts, and that could be used to the advantage of some hunters who think that they can lessen the problem.

Works Cited

Shavin, Naomi. “Forced Closer to Humans, Crocodiles Face Their Greatest Existential Threat.” Smithsonian Magazine. July 26, 2016.