FORT MYERS, Fla. -- State wildlife officials say some Southwest Florida college students went to the extreme when they posted a picture to social media. Some Florida Gulf Coast University students propped up a dead alligator on a dorm room bed and then posted a picture of it on Snapchat.
Other FGCU students had a little difficulty understanding why their classmates did this. "It's really crazy to think they actually went and got it, and then brought it to their room just to make a story about it," said Brielle Montesant, who lives in the South Village complex on FGCU's campus.
Montesant's classmates also found the photo to be disturbing. "I find it highly disrespectful," said Aidan Kenney, a senior at FGCU.
According to the campus police report, the gator was already dead when the students found it. The post to social media also caught the attention of Florida Fish and Wildlife. Both agencies investigated the incident at Palmetto Hall.
"The police were out here, it was loud out here in South Village, it was pretty scary because we didn't know actually what was going on and then we found out about the gator and it was pretty messed up," said Taylor Lerner, a freshman.
According to campus police, the students were at first untruthful about how the dead alligator ended up in their dorm. The group eventually got written warnings from FWC for possession of an alligator.
The dead gator photo might be lesson for people to scale back on what they post on social media.
"Anybody can see anything on Snapchat and I don't know who would want someone knowing that they were messing with an alligator," said Lerner.
