Alligator Advice

Many years ago I did business with P&W in Jupiter, FL. They have a large rectangular lake in front of their HQ, and there were plenty of gators. Visitor parking up front was always full so you had to walk around the lake. The gators were just sunning themselves on the bank.

.. not sure I would let my dogs wander around, however.
 
Just had the plumber to my house and we got to talking about fishing and gators; he was using a boat he got from his dad (turned out had a slightly pinched fuel line), and he was cruising up a small river when he spotted a 16 footer sunning himself on the bank; went around the bend and there was momma and several babies; She immediately went after him as his motor started to sputter and die (his pistol was in his truck); got it going and turned around and then the bull got in the water after him. He decided he was done fishing for the day. Saw a guy with a rig heading in the same direction; told him abut the gators and he laughed and went on; about 10 minutes later you could hear his twin outboards running fast as he came around that bend.

Several friends hunt gators at night. Saw a pic one took where the dark bank was awash with a sea of red eyes - these folks using 357 or 44 bang sticks as the hunting weapon of choice; but that means you have to get the gator close enough to the boat to place in the middle of his head, and then be prepared if necessary, to get in the water to help get him into the boat. As always, duct taping the mouth and tying up the tail are highly recommended.
 
They are all over the place !!!

So where do I get the map with all the gator nests, to be sure I don't go near one?
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They are in the process of updating them on a daily basis. Our daughter lives near Tampa and where there are lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and watery ditches, you got Gators that mostly, leave you, alone. ... :rolleyes:

I have never liked alligators.
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Then youre not cooking them right. ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
Exercise can kill you!

Our home in Coral Springs, FL was about 400 yards from the Everglades. One morning in June I was picking up the cycling pace on my second pre dawn lap of our subdivision. As I rounded the clubhouse turn I heard FLAP! FLAP! FLAP! FLAP! FLAP! In my dim (at low speed) generator headlight beam I made out a tree branch across the road ahead that quickly morphed into an at least 9ft gator. I say 9ft cuz he was all the way across an 8ft lane AT AN ANGLE! The FLAP! FLAP! FLAP! was him in high gear (their upright run) making it across the asphalt toward the golf course pond. Their “shoulders” look like ball joints in that mode.

That was the end of “exercise” for that day. I passed my oldest in the kitchen at the homestead and he asked me what was wrong. “Dad, you’re white as a sheet.”

Gators have brains about the size of a walnut. Their tiny CPUs are awash in hormones during mating season. They do things and go places that they don’t any other time of the year.
 
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Pahoo posted: ...you got Gators that mostly, leave you, alone. ...
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That's like having a gun that MOSTLY doesn't blow up when you shoot it, or a car that MOSTLY doesn't catch fire when you drive it.

Larry
 
Guns DO blow up occasionally. Cars DO catch on fire occasionally. We don’t fret about it.

The chance of being injured by an alligator is smaller than the chance of being injured by mosquito borne disease. Smaller than getting sick from a tick bite, or from sunburn.

We don’t have accurate data, but there is always a chance of shooting yourself in the leg reholstering your Glock.

Me? I like guns. But I don’t feel the need to shoot animals out of season.
 
Guns DO blow up occasionally. Cars DO catch on fire occasionally. We don’t fret about it.

The chance of being injured by an alligator is smaller than the chance of being injured by mosquito borne disease. Smaller than getting sick from a tick bite, or from sunburn.

We don’t have accurate data, but there is always a chance of shooting yourself in the leg reholstering your Glock.

Me? I like guns. But I don’t feel the need to shoot animals out of season.
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Yes, bugs can make you sick. Not many can eat your leg down to a stump, although it's been a while since I was in FL.

I don't 'feel the need to shoot animals out of season' either, and I don't see anyone here suggesting they do; I also note the instances of posters mentioning instances where an alligator actually DID attack a person or pet. Your implication that some folks here are just busting to shoot an alligator because they're somehow morally inferior to you is noted, however.

Larry
 
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