Now I gotta worry about alligators, too???Geez!

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Local TV station is telling people in my county to be on the lookout for 30 alligators that escaped from an alligator farm that flooded two days ago.

The owner says one of them is 18 ft long and warned people not to approach the gators or try to feed them (with what - an arm?). Like I'm going to walk up to an 18 ft gator and say "hello" - don't think so. In fact, size doesn't matter - teeth do.

The heavy rains have left the canals, inlets and ditches filled with water so the gators won't have any problem finding some wet stuff. Just hope the owner rounds them up soon before pets start disappearing.

kay
  • Profile picture of the author Christie Love
    What that... Oh, heck no. I'm don't deal with alligators, at all!

    I once heard a story where a lady though here tire was going flat because she heard a hissing sound as she got out of her car. So, she called the mechanic or someone to take a look at it and a full grown alligator was underneath her car. I would have fell out right then and there and the alligator would have had me for dinner.

    All I have to say to you Kay is... stay in until those critters are all rounded up.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
    Gator meal! Now that is radical! Forget big wave surfing or robin' banks. lol
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  • Profile picture of the author Star69
    That's nothing (well, it's not nothing. It's something, but) it's not as bad as this!

    Florida is being overrun by huge Burmese pythons! That's right, huge snakes, snakes so big they eat entire deer in one bite, snakes so massive even Samuel L. Jackson won't fly with them!

    Burmese Pythons Squeeze South Florida : EcoWorldly (Not sure who's eating who here...)

    They can be as long as 20 feet and weigh as much as a full-grown man! There may be as many as 30,000 of them loose in Florida right this minute!!! ! ! !

    People have formed Python Patrols to capture as many as they can before they take over the entire country. They can travel a mile and a half in one day. If they are not stopped, they could overrun Washington, D.C. and then who would run the U.S. auto industry?!

    We must get the upper hand on this terror or your auto warranty won't be any good!
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  • Profile picture of the author Jonathan 2.0
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    Oh that's nothing to worry about Kay. If you see any of them just do this:


    See? Simple. (Hehe)

    Stay safe.
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    "Each problem has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem. The greatest success stories were created by people who recognized a problem and turned it into an opportunity."―Joseph Sugarman
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    • Profile picture of the author ThomM
      snakes so big they eat entire deer in one bite
      Star have you ever seen a Florida deer?
      Hell I could eat one in one bite
      I did see that on the news though.
      When I lived there in the 70's I hunted rattlesnakes and armadillo's.
      Even back then it was common to find boa's and other exotic reptiles.
      Nothing like this Python thing though.

      Kay, just keep your eye's open and don't let your pets out unless you are with them and have checked things out first. And oh yea stay away from any bodies of water.
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  • Profile picture of the author valerieSONORA
    Kay, catch me a pet alligator.
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  • Profile picture of the author Thomas Wilkinson
    During the mating season in the spring I can hear the Gators
    from my house. I can go down to almost any of the canals
    early in the morning and find gators warming up in the morning
    sun. Gators do NOT play nice, they aren't pets, and they might
    be found in or near ANY water down here. That having been
    said, we average only three or four attacks and about one death
    per year. More people die of bee stings here than gator attacks.

    A gator will run if they have an opportunity. Due to protective laws
    and rapid over development of their habitat conflicts happen more
    often now than ever before.

    Tom
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      I had forgotten that Bond scene - good one. Crocs are meaner and have bigger bites than alligators, though don't want to play with either of them.
      I've read one problem in parts of Florida are idiots who think it's fun to feed the gators. Not real smart.

      I watched the late news tonight and the guy who lost the gators was talking about what number to call if you see one of them. He gave out his 10 digit number and I'm thinking "call 911".

      I've been walking the dogs on long lines so they can splash around in the water this week - no more of that for a while. I think gators are interesting - at a distance.

      kay
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      • Profile picture of the author Jonathan 2.0
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        Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

        I had forgotten that Bond scene - good one.
        You're very welcome. Thought you'd like it. Du du du do do do.
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        "Each problem has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem. The greatest success stories were created by people who recognized a problem and turned it into an opportunity."―Joseph Sugarman
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    I don't think people realize how fast gators are. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if you have a casualty or two....people that think they can get close because the animal won't move fast on land. "at a distance" is a good place to watch them from.
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  • Profile picture of the author Star69
    I've heard gators can run fast as a quarter horse (or was that bears?)...

    If a gator is in the water all you will see is a couple eyeballs sticking up and maybe a nostril. Unless you are aware of them, you won't even notice them. Very little movement. Gators are experts at waiting patiently until you are close enough. Then in a sudden splash of water they will spring out, grab hold of you and drag you into the deep water, where they will begin spinning very fast.

    You don't stand much of a chance. They will either rip you apart or drown you. Change the name on your shirt to Dinner.

    Alligators are dinosaurs and the only good dinosaur is a dead dinosaur.

    And they don't make good pets, Valerie. What you need is a couple pet alligator SHOES! Or a suitcase or a handbag or a belt!
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Motley
    We see gators here all the time. its not a big deal but you would think that being in a state known for gators that any freshwater would be off limits to go swimming in and you shoudl be careful around it. But every month or so you'll here of some momo that walks their little poodle too close to the pond and pull back a bloody leash, or a child that plays by the water and comes up missing.

    Last year cops were chasing a robber on crack who dove over a fence into a water hold and right into a gator, and then like a month later there was some guy out in the boonies that was drunk or high or something and decided it would be a good idea to go swimming late at night and lost an arm.

    Gators are just animals, its not their fault you're in their home.

    Its like people down here who get attacked by sharks. Well, if you are slapping around in the water and have a little bit of a wound thats bleeding, or are fishing in the surf and keeping your catch on a stringer around your hip, its probably not a good idea to be where the 24/7 killing machine that never sleeps and has bad eyesight hangs out, you look like food.

    Darwinism isnt just a theory.
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  • Profile picture of the author Thomas Wilkinson
    A little off topic but in Polk County Florida a few months ago a
    group of Patakas monkeys got loose. They rounded up the easy
    ones but some may never be recaptured. Not to worry though.
    If you know anything at all about the Lakeland area you'll soon
    realize it can't help but improve the gene pool over there.

    Tom
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    When you hear someone telling you what YOU can't do, they are usually talking about what THEY can't do.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Motley
    Yeah, there are parts of lakeland that are a little scary. Many family trees that dont have branches. Lots of people that think asphalt is a hip disease.
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