[senior citizen]

Southeastern Outdoors - Fatal Alligator Attacks


I had posted on another link several times about how naïve we were when we lived in Satellite Beach Florida for one year, in our mid twenties (1970’s)


Totally unprepared to deal with not only alligators lurking in ponds/lakes or for those dangerous ant hills while walking our 2 year old and 5 year old on the paths.


Obviously we made it out alive; only seeing one HUGE GIANT SNAKE removed from the canal on which our rental home was on. Like “Out of Africa” huge.

Ditto for the late 1980’s while vacationing each April on Sanibel Island, Florida which has the Ding Darling Nature Preserve and does have alligators all over the place.......
....a fact that the home owners and condo owners/ business owners make lightly of, so as not to scare away prospective tourists. Great seashells though.

We even subscribed to the local Sanibel paper prior to visiting......which obviously kept it pretty hush hush.

Of course, when checking in, I’d ask about the alligator “thing”. They’d laugh and make lightly of it.........or outright deny it.

There have been quite a few alligator attacks on Sanibel if you click above hyperlink...........including a lady doing landscaping in the backyard.

Most of her arm had to be removed from a massive infection from the alligator bite..........she ultimately died. It happens.

Obviously, many victims of alligator attacks do survive and live to tell about it. The above hyperlink covers some of the fatalities.

Alligators are hunted and removed for a reason. Even the smaller ones can grow in size........I would imagine. Who knows what is lurking beneath??

Through our own lack of knowledge, our two year old and five year old could have been a tasty morsel for an alligator............as we waded into ponds and lakes, unsuspectingly.....as I've written previously.

I believe newspapers should print the truth and the facts.

I’ve heard that the state of Florida really doesn’t want tourists to know about these things...........so as not to discourage tourism.

Those who do know, shouldn't put their heads in the sand.

God forbid. Hopefully, it never happens, but it's smart to be "aware" of potential danger.......I still say that man is a hero.

I can't believe the negative response to his story that was printed in the Orlando Sentinel. I'm sure they checked it out.

How did he get the wounds on his hand and leg as shown in the photos they took? So many doubting Thomases.