Keep Your Hands Inside The Boat - Alligators

[RiversideBunny]

There can be alligators all along the Southern coast of the US.
I have personally seen 'gators in SC and we have some here.
Probably they are found from NC to Texas in the coastal areas and all over FL.

Do not touch them. Do not pet them.
Do not pose your kids with them for pictures.
A quote to remember: "It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead."

Have a magical day.

 

[sbkline]

We took our son to WDW in April and he was just a week or two short of his 4th birthday. He's in that stage where he has all kinds of questions and for a while now, he's been asking alot about alligators and sharks. So when we took the boat from the Wilderness Lodge to Ft Wilderness, he was asking me about alligators and I was telling him that this is Florida and that there will inevitably be alligators in the water. The boat driver overheard and added that state law (or maybe it's Federal Law, I can't remember) prevents WDW from even trying to get them out of the water.

So not only are there alligators on property, most likely in every significant body of water that doesn't have chlorine in it, but there are not even any attempts to rid the premises of them. And that, of course, means that they are reproducing there as well and they aren't being deported off property.

As I've said before, a good rule of thumb for Florida is to not get into any water that isn't chlorinated or salty. And even then, you might want to double check your backyard swimming pool before jumping in to make sure a gator didn't wander in overnight!

 

[wdwmomof3]

There was a video on here a while back where someone filmed a gator in the water at Splash Mtn. You could see the small gator and then you could see the boats going by.:ROFLOL:

I found one, but this is not the one I was talking about!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1ZqrnJkQuQ

 

[sbkline]

There was a video on here a while back where someone filmed a gator in the water at Splash Mtn. You could see the small gator and then you could see the boats going by.:ROFLOL:

I just wonder how long it's gonna be until a gator gets run over by a boat or something, and then have all the animal rights groups trying to sue Disney.

 

[rsoxguy]

I just wonder how long it's gonna be until a gator gets run over by a boat or something, and then have all the animal rights groups trying to sue Disney.

I appreciate your sarcasm, but the animal rights people wouldn't bother. Our alligator population in Florida is estimated at 1.5 million. They keep showing up in strange places, and are slowly going to be viewed as a nuisance.
Quick true story: a neighbor two doors down from me had a ten foot gator at her front door several weeks ago. It wouldn't leave and the police finally scared it back into the water behind our homes. Ah, the joys of mating season.

 

[goofykt]

As a good practice, always look under the beds when you first check into your room.

Haha! And in the closets for Randall..."mama! there's a gator in the house!"

 

[Ziffell]

A quote to remember: "It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead."

You present this as though it's from a documentary about gators or something. In reality it's a just a quote from the first Terminator movie... and a bit melodramatic for describing gators, don't you think?

 

[scpergj]

Be careful around WDW lakes -

NAPLES, FL -- Florida wildlife officials say a 10-foot alligator bit off a man's hand while he was swimming in a canal with friends.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Gabriella Ferraro says 18-year-old Timothy Delano of Naples is recovering at a hospital. Officials managed to catch the gator and retrieve the hand from its stomach, and doctors may be able to reattach the hand.
Ferraro says Delano was swimming with three friends around 9:30 p.m. Sunday when the alligator attacked.
The men swam to shore and drove to a gas station, where they called 911. Delano was flown by helicopter to a hospital.
Wildlife officials say people should stay out of freshwater canals and lakes this time of year because alligators are more active, especially around dawn and dusk.

Uh...yeah. If the guy hadn't made it, he would have been a Darwin award nominee. Look, I live in north east Florida, and do swim in our larger lakes and rivers, and at the springs in State Parks...but in a canal? In Florida? Not the smartest thing to do.......

If there is a natural body of water in Florida you can be assured there are gators living in it. While the little ones (under 5 feet) aren't much to worry about, the big ones can really be very very scary!

Truth...

I am not scared of them. I have a healthy respect for them but I am not going to run away screaming like a girl if I see one. Gator attacks on humans are quite rare. The only time they really become dangerous is when people begin to fee them.

They are very common in Florida. The assumption that every body of fresh water in the state of Florida has a gator in it is quite accurate.

Yup...not terribly afraid of gators...now snakes are a whole different matter. Too many poisionous snakes in Florida to mess with snakes...

You present this as though it's from a documentary about gators or something. In reality it's a just a quote from the first Terminator movie... and a bit melodramatic for describing gators, don't you think?

Don't live in the southeast, do ya? Check out some of our swamps, and wildlife films. Melodramatic - a bit...but only a very tiny bit. Does make the point!

 

[Vtlsgns2]

I've seen alligators on WDW property; personally, I would not swim in any body of fresh water in this state. A bite from an alligator, no matter what the size, is not always instantly fatal but can lead to a serious, fatal infection weeks after a bite.
Unfortunately, as someone mentioned above, lots of people feed alligators; this is when they lose their fear of humans. The alligator obviously grows into a larger alligator while trolling the same waters; pets may go missing or someone may get attacked in the worst case scenario. In the absence of an attack, that gator will still be deemed a "nuisance" and will be removed and put down.
I would really like to see people exercise more respect for wildlife. I know I've taken a bit of a doomsday approach to this topic, but it's really no joke.

 

[GenerationX]

What the original article forgot to mention was that this was actually a classic two-man con, Florida style. While the first alligator bites the mark's hand, the second alligator picks his pocket. In this case, the guy was just lucky the second alligator was stuck in a WDW bathroom.

 

[Illumination]

*facepalm* Swimming in a canal in FL? Really?

 

[misterID]

I used to catch baby alligators when I was a kid. Was nearly attacked once during mating season, when one flew out of a pond with its jaws open. I didn't even know it was there.

The fun part is when they hiss at you.

And I'm much more afraid of water moccasin's.

 

[mickey2008.1]

Last year in september at CBR, we saw a cage set for a gator, and then actually got to see it in the cage after it was caught, maybe a 4 footer. So disney does try to catch them and escort them off property as the animal person told us. it was really cool to see, but i would not go in any of the waters on the resort, as the signs post " do not swim"

 

[sbkline]

Last year in september at CBR, we saw a cage set for a gator, and then actually got to see it in the cage after it was caught, maybe a 4 footer. So disney does try to catch them and escort them off property as the animal person told us. it was really cool to see, but i would not go in any of the waters on the resort, as the signs post " do not swim"

I wonder if there is a difference between the habitable areas, such as the resort hotels, as opposed to the "wild" areas, when it comes to the laws. Maybe the law prohibits tampering with the wildlife in the lakes and undeveloped areas, but allows them to be caught when they are on the grounds of the hotels. :shrug:

 

[me_stitch]

whoever told you that disney was not allowed to remove them was very mis-informed. any animal that is considered a danger to people can be caught and moved somewhere else. I'm pretty sure if a gator crawled up onto the CBR beach that it would be gone by the next day. as for swimming in canals in FL, when I first moved to Tampa I remember watching people jump off of bridges and then swimming to shore with alligators lining both sides of the canal, I thought they were crazy but a couple of years later I was one of them. you get used to them like people get used to bears and cougars here in Washington St.

 

[WDWVito]

Haha! And in the closets for Randall..."mama! there's a gator in the house!"

Ha Ha Nice MI reference! :ROFLOL:

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I think this was either AL or Pop Century I can't remeber.

Adventureland. The story goes that he was spotted by the morning crew before opening... So no guests were anywhere around, apparently.

And come to think of it, that HAS to be true... Because I've never seen a MK toilet that clean!!!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I wonder if there is a difference between the habitable areas, such as the resort hotels, as opposed to the "wild" areas, when it comes to the laws. Maybe the law prohibits tampering with the wildlife in the lakes and undeveloped areas, but allows them to be caught when they are on the grounds of the hotels. :shrug:

I'm no lawyer so don't quote me on this but if a gator is deemed a nuisance it can be caught & relocated or destroyed by people who are licensed by the Wildlife Commission to do just this very thing. I remember back in the day when gators were considered endangered and the laws to not bother them at all were super duper strict. The populations have recovered well. Trust me. I'm not real sure about Florida but I'm pretty sure in at least Louisiana there's a certain number of "tags" given out each year to hunters (or maybe they have to pay so much to Wildlife & Fisheries per tag) for them to hunt alligators. There's a season for that, tho.

When I was a kid living in Central Florida we used to swim in the creek behind our neighborhood and camp overnight on the shores regularly. I'm sure there were snakes and gators in there. I know my brothers and their friends used to catch snapping turtles and huuuuge gar in that same creek. :shrug:

Also, fun stuff! When we lived in the New Orleans area when you drive out a ways on some of the highways that are lined with canals and bogs during hatching season there'd be tons of baby gators trying to cross the highways. Looked like freakin' hamburger meat strewn across the highway. I've seen huuuuuge 12+ foot ones walking down the same highways before. Those you wanna go slow down & drive around. If you hit 'em you'll total your car and really make 'em mad at you. :lol:

Also, for those who say that chlorinated water is safe. That video in the link is the city I live in now. That Gator Country park that man works at in the video I do NOT recommend anyone go to. I was sickened by what I saw there. It was like a redneck side show. The animals were not well cared for at all.

Also, those who think swimming in larger bodies (not just canals) is safe here's a tidbit that occurred where we used to live in Louisiana. The guy in the white shirt talking is the Sheriff I used to work for. I know the deputies who responded to this. The boy lived. No, he doesn't have his arm.

Like Yoda said, gotta respect 'em.

 

[PrincessSparrow]

i saw a little gator from the railroad in MK near the water in Aventurelandish area... also, on the keys to the kingdom tour, disney can remove gators but they usually only do so if they are of a significant size. we were also told that alot of people feed them popcorn and things in frontierland and that you can sometimes see them hanging around...

 

[Grizzly Hall 71]

Ok now I don't want to drive any more boats on Bay Lake.