Look but don’t touch.
That’s what University of Louisiana at Lafayette officials are asking of students and onlookers eager to catch a glimpse of a mama alligator guarding a nest of eggs on campus.
She laid the eggs close to a sidewalk bordering Cypress Lake, which is actually a wetland managed by the University.
The area’s been closed off for the gator’s safety and to protect the eggs, said Joey Pons, director of Environmental Health and Safety at UL Lafayette.
He consulted with Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries officials, who assured him the alligator can’t bite through a chain link fence it is nested behind.
“For safety’s sake, because it’s so close to a high traffic area, we called wildlife officials and they’ve assured us she won’t get aggressive unless provoked or threatened,” Pons said.
“We just ask that onlookers respect the natural process.”
Pons estimated the eggs, first noticed last week, should hatch in about seven weeks.
“We’re not sure how many there are, but wildlife officials said there could be as many as 100 here and it takes 60 days for the eggs to incubate.”