Does anybody want to go swimming?

[Love Life]

This guy likes to hang out at the local fishing hole.

147284147285

I have been having a great time studying these reptiles in the wild. There is one place I go where a dirt rd is surrounded on both sides by swamp and a clear cut. There are gator slides all over the place. I park in the middle of the road and jump into the back as fast as possible with my binos and tripod (don't want to be a snack).

[farmerjim]

They don't taste bad at all. A little bit chewy if breaded and fried. They are much faster than they look.

[osteodoc08]

Had a college friend who did a bunch of irrigation work for Valley and the farmers would often let him fish their ponds. We went out to one pond, maybe 35-40 acre size and we shined the pond after flipping out the lanterns. Red eyes everywhere. He took his fishing rod and slapped the water a few times and then there were even more and slowly coming our way. We flipped the lanterns on and we're sure to stay away from the immediate bank. Caught a bunch of catfish that summer. Crappie too. This wasn't too far from you LL. I wanna say we were in Cuthbert.

[cainttype]

I used to "harvest" gators every year with a group of die-hards. It's difficult to describe the game as "hunting", although there were rare occasions when free-shooting was used.
For the most part, in SW Louisiana, any area of reasonably sized water has the potential to have gators nearby. In fact, I called the LDWF a couple of years ago for a nuisance tag number after watching a gator (well over 12 ft, possibly in the 14 ft range... which is HUGE!) sunbathe in the saltwater ship-channel of Calcasieu River while swimmers, see-doers, and boaters played in the water across from him on a popular island hangout. They were totally unaware of his presence and the potential danger he posed, as whole families splashed around.
I had walked a dock to get a photo to send to one of my gator buddies of this very large critter but couldn't get any closer than about 50 yards. Even at that distance, he put up a very aggressive pose to ward me off... He definitely had no fear, and was used to being the biggest threat in his domain.

The tag was issued to a local hunter the LDWF uses for these out-of-season removals. I called the guy several times when the big gator showed up, but was never able to put them together for a proper introduction.
The gator eventually disappeared. We never found out exactly what happened to him.

[Pumpkinheaver]

I might swim if I can take my 10mm with me.

[starmac]

If you think gators can only crawl around on their belly, grab a holt of ones tail. They can literally stand up and HAUL *** when they want to.

[Beagle333]

Them's good eatin'. :D

[Hogtamer]

Hey LL, wanta feel real power? Get a big 12" Mann's Jelly Worm from your local fishing store and a rod and reel with some stout line. Put a 4 or 5 aught hook in it and Give it a heave. "walk" it across the water fast and see how long it takes him to get there! Work it in close and throw it across his nose this time. Don't worry, the hook won't hurt the brute, but you'll feel raw power for a minute that you will remember. Like shooting a 50 cal except slower... BTW the gators are ******* compared to S. Ga cottonmouths.

[starmac]

One observation I made of them was after I bought an underwater light, and was playing with them one night. Just about everytime I would get close to them they would go under, only to resurface some distance away, which I knew. With the light I saw exactly how they did that 90% of the time, and that was for their tail to sink first and as their head went under they left exactly backwards of the way they were originally faceing.
I used to catch small ones all the time and usually snuck up on them from behind and grabbed them by the neck, but would probably only catch one out of ten or so that I snuck up on before they went under. After I used the light, I wondered how many of thase small ones turned and went right between my legs.

Another very important observation was, I was told by an older guy in Louisiana, that you could instead of grabbing them by the neck, to grab their front legs and pin them against their body, THEY CAN TURN THEIR HEADS ENOUGH TO CHEW YOUR HAND OFF IF YOU DO. I don't know if this guy thought it would be funny to see me lose a hand, or if he had just heard that and repieted it.

[Digger]

This guy likes to hang out at the local fishing hole.

147284147285

I have been having a great time studying these reptiles in the wild. There is one place I go where a dirt rd is surrounded on both sides by swamp and a clear cut. There are gator slides all over the place. I park in the middle of the road and jump into the back as fast as possible with my binos and tripod (don't want to be a snack).

Maybe like the swimming here in Topaz a bit better there Love Life ! ...

[Riverpigusmc]

Friend of mine lives in Eufaula Alabama. They pulled a 920 pound gator out of the lake, he knows the guide that did it. During the heavy rains here in North Florida, I've seen them wander the scrub behind my house

[Echo]

When I lived on a lake (Hourglass lake) in Orlando a neighbor had his boxer mauled by a gator. We swam in the lake often, and my 1-2yr-old daughter played in it, too (never by herself). The dog deviled the gator, and learned how fast gators can run. A neighbor around the lake baited, and shot the gator. Seven feet long...

[Omega]

While stationed in Savannah, GA at Hunter Army Airfield we would do physical fitness (PT) around some lakes that were inhabited by gators. They were used to having people around and never to my knowledge injured anyone. Once while fishing one of the small lakes, I had one crawl under my truck which I was fishing off of. It seems I parked on his favorite napping area; I fished a few hours with neither one of us bothering the other. They were protected there on post so I am not sure what if anything I could do if he decided to try and mess with me.

[dtknowles]

When I worked second shift at Kennedy Space Center, I would check underneath the my car and the one on the drivers side before I approached to get in the car when I was leaving work because gators would sometimes be under cars in the parking lot. I have flushed gators in the grass that I did not know they were there when walking around ponds, rivers, swamps or estuaries in Florida, it is not a comfortable experience. Fortunately they always went away.

I was fishing from a canoe in Irish Bayou, spin casting a lure and dragging cut bait on a bobber when one of the gators in the bayou (there are always a bunch but they normally leave me alone) anyway, this gator swam out and ate my bobber and would not let go so I had to cut the line. In season here, road killed gators are as thick as road killed deer in Pa.

Tim

[NavyVet1959]

I've been diving in some of the springs in Florida and seen gators swimming underneath me. I much prefer Florida to Louisiana since the water is very clear and you can see the gators. The idea of dark murky water (like in Louisiana) and having a gator that I can't see doesn't exactly appeal to me.

[montana_charlie]

http://earthlymission.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/1926_080814.jpg

A quiet job on a crocodile farm ...

[NavyVet1959]

A quiet job on a crocodile farm ...

Those actually look more like alligators.

[montana_charlie]

Those actually look more like alligators.
I won't argue with you, but that was the caption in the email I received.

I'm thinking that Love Life would be a lot safer if he had an eight foot long stick, like her.
Of course, she may only use it to pole vault from one 'island' to the next ... so she doesn't get her shoes wet.

[Love Life]

http://earthlymission.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/1926_080814.jpg

A quiet job on a crocodile farm ...

That is not safe at all. I'd have messed my silkies if I found myself surrounded by alligators.

[Hogtamer]

Reckon that No Tresspassing sign is really neccessary?

[gunauthor]

It's only necessary for stupid people......

[Love Life]

It's only necessary for stupid people......

Somebody will trespass, get bit up, and then sue...and win.

[cainttype]

Gators are kinda like sharks, people are around them regularly with usually no harm done. Attacks on people are uncommon, but results range from severe mauling and/or dismembered limbs to death.
The disappearance of pets in areas with healthy gator populations is not uncommon, and that includes some fairly large dog breeds.

Gators tend to grow in length mostly, to about 7-8 ft. After that, they tend to put on a lot of weight for any length gained... A 9ft dwarfs a 7ft, weightwise...12 ft plus is very big, and over 13ft is HUGE.

Anyone that ventures into water regularly frequented by gators in the 8ft+ range is taking a risk. Anyone knowingly allowing children to play in those areas is a fool.

[1911cherry]

Gators are a part of everyday life depending on where you live. We fish, swim and tube in a river basin and reservoir full of gators, we respect them and they leave us alone. Some times there are troublemakers of human and gatorkind, usually the same result either species, knuckleheads get removed from the gene pool. Gators get hunted , rednecks say hold my beer and watch this....

[NavyVet1959]

In the end, Darwin will always be there for you.

[dtknowles]

There is a pond in the lawn in front of the NASA Headquarters at Kennedy Space Center. From time to time there will be a gator that makes it his home. They normally leave the gator alone unless some idiot starts to feed it and it become used to human contact then they deal with it and it is gone. Not sure what deal with it means but it is not longer in the pond.

Tim