This has ending swimming in the river for me!

[Stinsok]

This is in my area. If there is one, there are more. I don't recall any gator sightings from around here. He's a big'un!


Seeya later Alligator - Large Alligator caught on Alabama River near Selma | News | Selma News

[Relic]

Woah that's one big sucker!!
That'll make a whole lotta stew though.

[Stinsok]

Fried Gator Tail is good eatin'. I wonder how many pets that thing has eaten?

[Smokin' Toaster]

I wouldn't worry about swimming in the same river as him. Here in LA (Lower Alabama), in the delta we have them darn near plentiful enough to walk over like stepping stones. Gators that attack humans have probably been unintentionally conditioned to do so due to humans feeding them. They associate the human with food to the point that humans = dinnertime. Second, other than the aforementioned "conditioned" gators, it's a damn hungry gator that will select a human over a nice nutria, fish, or other prey that is much more managable. Third, you're much more likely to get killed in an auto accident on the way to the river than you are likely to get killed by a gator in the river, and I'll bet you aren't ready to give up driving, are you?

I've found myself in close proximity to gators while in the water swimming, in a canoe, and while I was on land, and while I know there was an element of danger there, they seemed to be more curious and cautious than threatening. Hear me well, I don't recommend knowingly swimming with gators, but it's way down on the list of "things that will quickly get you dead".

And +1 on the fried Gator tail. In fact, there is good meat on the gator's flank too, you just have to know how to butcher and clean it properly to get all the fishy tasting fat off of it. Come to think of it, maybe that's why the gators I've come across are curious... they know I'm more interested in eating them than they are in eating me!!

[Jim Nazium]

Originally Posted by Relic

Woah that's one big sucker!!
That'll make a whole lotta stew though.

... and several nice pairs of boots!

[Phalex]

It's the alligator snapping turtles that would dissuade me from swimming.......



You guys have way to much stuff that bites or stings down that way.....

[Dr. Cheese]

Is it gator season in Alabama now? I know in SC, the season is from late August to October 1.

BTW, I remember seeing a good sized Gator not far from Selma when I was I kid visiting my Mother's home in Lowndes County. The gator stayed in the farm pond for a few weeks before he moved on. That was around 1976 or 1977.

[macaroni tony]

Originally Posted by Phalex

It's the alligator snapping turtles that would dissuade me from swimming.......



You guys have way to much stuff that bites or stings down that way.....

Whoa!

[PSPookie]

Yet another reason I prefer the pool.

[Chef FourString]

That's a good sized dinosaur. I'm glad we don't have those in Texas. Around the water, we just have to worry about cotton mouths. It being so dry down here, more than a few people have been bit this year.

[Jay Ralston]

Gators and snapping turtles don't scare me. It's the snakes that do!

[PSPookie]

Let's not forget about the amoebas either.

[Smokin' Toaster]

I believe Alabama's Alligator season just ended. It was basically two weekends, Friday through Sunday.

I used to live on Fish river, off of Weeks Bay which is off of Mobile Bay. It's a pretty developed river, lots of houses, but we'd still have good sized gators turn up in the river once in awhile. I was worried about them snacking on one of my dogs. I saw a Manatee once too. And I had to seperate my big German Wirehair Buddy from several water moccasins. he was smart enough to make it a "you strike at me and I'll strike at you" contest, but all it would have taken was one miscalculation and Buddy would have been history.

[Phalex]

Originally Posted by PSPookie

Let's not forget about the amoebas either.

The ones that eat brains?

[PSPookie]

Originally Posted by Phalex

The ones that eat brains?

Is there any other kind that's worth talking about?

[Phalex]

Originally Posted by PSPookie

Is there any other kind that's worth talking about?

Zomoebas?

[PSPookie]

Originally Posted by Phalex

Zomoebas?

Covered at-length in the Zomoeba Apocalypse thread.

[oniman7]

lol, we have gators in every one of the 5 ponds in our neighborhood. Granted, generally they're 6 or 7 feet, but 11 and 12 feet isn't unheard of. That's not the scary part though. For instance, less than 300 feet from my grandparents' house, animal control killed a 13 foot rattlesnake. A 13 foot. Rattlesnake. Its head was the size of a Jack Russell Terrier.

Also, in our local river, (St. Johns) there have been 3 people in 2 weeks that died of amoebas that attack your brain. The funny part is my drummer read about those on cracked.com months ago and told us we weren't allowed to swim in natural water sources. We all laughed him off.... at least we decided to listen to him. That's what ended swimming for me. You know, besides the moccasins and cotton mouths and rattle snakes and alligators and pollution levels and even rockfish. Oh Florida!

[Strohsx]

Funny I was just camping where we found (honest to god)
The old rope tied to a tree to swing off of, it was great fun, especially aiming for the 10' square we were sure had no rebar/ other trash.

I know it's all fun until someone lands on a shopping cart.

Know what's great about Michigan? virtually no wildlife that can kill and eat you.

[jaywa]

Uh yeah... between the gators and the brain-eating amoebas I think I'll be staying in the pool, thank you.