The Florida Summer of Alligator Attacks
Alligators in my home state of origin and where I grew-up has the media focus due to a couple people who were killed by alligators. Here is some of the coverage:
Per CBS:
I grew-up and lived about 25 miles from Lake George until I was 20 years old and have spent countless hours on the water there and on other water ways in the area. I have no idea why there has been a recent spike in people being killed by alligators in Florida, but it just might be that there are lots more alligators and people in the same area. The alligator was nearly extinct not so long ago. In the 70's a federal law was enacted to protect the species from becoming extinct and although they are still consider and listed as a threatened species, the population has boomed and they are now harvested under state control. See the State Fish & Game Commission for a round-up of how they are harvested, when, and why........................
Two of the three areas where the attacks occurred are in the areas of highest permits issued to harvest alligators per the Commissions Map (751-Lake George & 402-404-405-Everglades). There is a reason that permits are issued for harvest, and that's because they want alligators removed from the population.......................
When I was growing up in Florida we had a game when we water skied and saw alligators, and the game was to spray them with a cut of the ski. They would head under quickly and even those who fell on the cut never got eaten.........Might sound dumb given the current "story" on alligators but no one I knew ever got attacked by an alligator. In my youth on Florida water ways it's more amazing that no one was bitten by a water moccasin. Another skiing game we played was to whip the skier into the lily pads and idle down so they sank and then yanked them out with weeds wrapped around their legs and body............Now that was dumb.................I remember fishing at night on Lake George and seeing alligators under the 16 foot boat that were almost the same length of the boat while the bank had nothing but red eyes (alligator eyes are red at night when shinned with a light) shining back when we pointed the light that way...................No problem, we stayed in the boat..............
What I was always told by the old timers rings true in what the Commission has up on their web-site on how to avoid problems with Alligators:
1) Don't let your dog swim in areas that have alligators - alligators love dogs and might get you if they go for the dog and you are near. Not good for you or your dog............
2) Dusk & Dawn - stay out of the water where alligators are known to be during those hours.................
3) Stay away from alligators when it is breeding season - especially at dusk and dawn and never have a dog with you.....................
4) Simply don't swim in areas where idiots have fed alligators and they have no fear of humans.....................
Every alligator I ever encountered in my youth took off as fast as they could when I got too close. Obviously they probably never were fed by humans and still had a healthy fear of humans in place. What is happening in Florida with alligators has to be a combination of too many alligators and bad choices by humans when in the alligators environment. The alligator environment is shrinking at an incredible rate in Florida and the population of alligators continues to grow..........at some point something has to give...............
Don't fear water sports in Florida..............This native tells you to simply understand the rules and if you follow them you should have no problems with alligators......
OCALA NATIONAL FOREST, Fla. — Wildlife officers captured an alligator Thursday that they believe fatally attacked a Tennessee woman while she snorkeled in a secluded recreation area. Trappers caught the 11-foot-4-inch, 407-pound alligator on a baited hook in Juniper Creek, near Lake George, where Annemarie Campbell was attacked, state wildlife officials said.
Per CBS:
(AP) Florida had seen just 17 confirmed fatal alligator attacks in the previous 58 years. In less a week, there appears to have been three. The bodies of two women were found Sunday some 130 miles apart. A third woman's body was found on Wednesday.
I grew-up and lived about 25 miles from Lake George until I was 20 years old and have spent countless hours on the water there and on other water ways in the area. I have no idea why there has been a recent spike in people being killed by alligators in Florida, but it just might be that there are lots more alligators and people in the same area. The alligator was nearly extinct not so long ago. In the 70's a federal law was enacted to protect the species from becoming extinct and although they are still consider and listed as a threatened species, the population has boomed and they are now harvested under state control. See the State Fish & Game Commission for a round-up of how they are harvested, when, and why........................
Two of the three areas where the attacks occurred are in the areas of highest permits issued to harvest alligators per the Commissions Map (751-Lake George & 402-404-405-Everglades). There is a reason that permits are issued for harvest, and that's because they want alligators removed from the population.......................
When I was growing up in Florida we had a game when we water skied and saw alligators, and the game was to spray them with a cut of the ski. They would head under quickly and even those who fell on the cut never got eaten.........Might sound dumb given the current "story" on alligators but no one I knew ever got attacked by an alligator. In my youth on Florida water ways it's more amazing that no one was bitten by a water moccasin. Another skiing game we played was to whip the skier into the lily pads and idle down so they sank and then yanked them out with weeds wrapped around their legs and body............Now that was dumb.................I remember fishing at night on Lake George and seeing alligators under the 16 foot boat that were almost the same length of the boat while the bank had nothing but red eyes (alligator eyes are red at night when shinned with a light) shining back when we pointed the light that way...................No problem, we stayed in the boat..............
What I was always told by the old timers rings true in what the Commission has up on their web-site on how to avoid problems with Alligators:
1) Don't let your dog swim in areas that have alligators - alligators love dogs and might get you if they go for the dog and you are near. Not good for you or your dog............
2) Dusk & Dawn - stay out of the water where alligators are known to be during those hours.................
3) Stay away from alligators when it is breeding season - especially at dusk and dawn and never have a dog with you.....................
4) Simply don't swim in areas where idiots have fed alligators and they have no fear of humans.....................
Every alligator I ever encountered in my youth took off as fast as they could when I got too close. Obviously they probably never were fed by humans and still had a healthy fear of humans in place. What is happening in Florida with alligators has to be a combination of too many alligators and bad choices by humans when in the alligators environment. The alligator environment is shrinking at an incredible rate in Florida and the population of alligators continues to grow..........at some point something has to give...............
Don't fear water sports in Florida..............This native tells you to simply understand the rules and if you follow them you should have no problems with alligators......
posted by Steve at 9:27 PM
