Make sure your beloved FWC employee knew wtf he was talking about. I have met my share of natural resource professionals who are relatively ignorant and stupid. Some (certainly not all) could not see past the tip of their nose.
Excerpt, and possibly not indicative of your situation from:
http://wildflorida.org/critters/policy.htm
"If the situation involves a wild animal, such as a deer, bear, snake then The Commission permits approved nuisance wildlife trappers to respond to complaints and remove nuisance animals for a fee. In some counties and municipalities, animal control officers are licensed to remove nuisance critters.
Wildlife laws:
No license or permit is required for a property owner to take any mammal, except deer or bear, found damaging personal property, provided that they be taken only within the immediate locality where damage is occurring. This does not authorize the use of a gun and light at night, steel traps, or poison to take wildlife unless a Depredation Permit is obtained from the appropriate regional office of the Commission. "
The US generally does have more stringent guidelines for depredation control. In contrast, one of my college buddies from Alberta assassinated a trio of bears legally after they raided his uncles beehives. Then he took the gall bladders, juiced them with green jello, and sold them to a Chinese guy down at the filling station who in turn would sell the gall bladders to aphrodesiac vendors.