As Florida feels the impact of Hurricane Irma, gator parks (some of them hosting thousands of alligators on their properties) said they were well-prepared. One park in Orlando told Huff Post, "None of our animals are getting out.”
“We have a detailed hurricane procedure in place,” said park director Mike Hileman. “We have double fences, a large perimeter fence that goes around the entire property.”
Hileman was so confident that their gators will not run loose that he added, "If you see an alligator floating down the street right by your house, it ain’t ours."
But when HuffPost ran with the headline "Gator Park...Promises None Will Escape", people suddenly became afraid of the very real threat of alligators escaping in flood waters — and absolutely no one was reassured.
@HuffPost
"Yeah, mhmm, sure. Sure, two-thousand-alligator park, sure."
this ok https://t.co/Kka3JPjyw6
Yeah...... https://t.co/bq0Dr4HEnK
Some pointed out how this is exactly what someone would say as their famous last words BEFORE THOUSANDS OF ALLIGATORS SWAM LOOSE.
I believe this is what you call foreshadowing https://t.co/JIKe6b0q1C
@HuffPost Try "we'll do our best to keep the public safe". When you say "none will escape" that's just inviting Mu… https://t.co/m9EKdK7bK6
The "promise" reminded many of famous plot lines of movie franchies like Sharknado and Jurassic Park.
@HuffPost FROM THE PEOPLE THAT BROUGHT YOU SHARKNADO
This is the plot of Jurassic Park https://t.co/5yIzloQfWy
Where, uh, if you remember all of the animals escaped and began terrorizing people.
@HuffPost
The jokes, of course, began. "UPDATE: The park's lone computer programmer has shut down the security system and disappeared into the storm."
UPDATE: the park's lone computer programmer has shut down the security system and disappeared into the storm. https://t.co/UTTQQBN8ZK
"What could possibly go wrong?"
What could possiBLY go wrong? https://t.co/s731NUeAcW
"Narrator: They were wrong."
@HuffPost Narrator: They were wrong.
They don't intend to escape. They intend to rule. https://t.co/JnJZ1sScx3
The jokes had people chuckling...very nervously.
*nervous laughter* https://t.co/3By8KsFjMo
Just look at this smug gator, plotting his freedom.
In all seriousness, if you're in Florida please be on the look out for displaced wildlife and animals! Zoos and marine parks have taken precautions to shelter their animals, but this Huff Post story may have jinxed us all.