Florida deputy gains reputation as department’s animal rescuer

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© 1994 Morgan Creek Productions Inc. Lee County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Dave Drum might as well be known as the department’s Ace Ventura after his numerous rescues of Florida wildlife. Most recently, Drum was called to help corral a pig on the loose on Pine Island.  Thankfully, pigs are his specialty. According to WFLA 8, the LCSO received a call back in 2018 about a “very large pig rooting around” a mobile home park in North Fort Myers. Drum ended up lassoing the massive swine before turning it over the department’s agriculture unit. When no owner would come forward, the pig was eventually auctioned off. Drum has had his fair share of experience with other lost or helpless critters as well. In 2020, the officer rescued a duckling caught in a storm drain by jumping in and returning it to his family. Drum has also had a few scarier run-ins with animals. In 2018, the officer confronted a slightly more dangerous animal – an alligator. He and a few other deputies initially responded to an alligator in a Burger King parking lot near Lehigh Acres. The deputies managed to detain the alligator, and with advice from the Florida Wildlife Commission, they released him back into the wild into a canal. It seems that animals on the loose is a recurring problem in Florida, but it’s not a surprise given the abundant wildlife in the state. According to the Florida Wildlife Commission, there are over 1.3 million alligators in the state. This past summer, Polk County Sheriff’s deputies wrangled a 5 ½ foot gator lingering on a family’s front porch, and more recently in November, Pensacola police officers spent hours chasing down a runaway pig.