Lake Sumter questions
 

A couple questions about Lake Sumter. The lake itself. How deep is it (on average and at its greatest depth), and are there gators in it. I ask the last question because I watched a bunch of loons or cormorants swimming around in it this morning, and thought, "Geez, brave bunch of little fellas."

When there is heavy heavy rain, do the anchored out little row boats fill up/sink?

Any ideas?

Take the nature pontoon boat ride, its 25 per person max 4 and it's a load of great info. It is deep in some parts. and those birds are natures cheeseburgers to a gator.

FYI- no P in SUMTER :icon_wink:

There is no pee in Lake Sumter
 

As Gracie likes to point out (she's probaby tired of doing). There is no P in Lake Sumter.

Yes, gators live in Lake Sumter. So do all sorts of things.

Let me get a tape and will let you know. Yes there are gators in it.

Gator pee.

I'm wondering if they remove the alligators in TV when they get a certain size.

My wife's niece lives in a very exclusive subdivision near Jacksonville, and they
have a small lake with alligators, but they remove them when they get 4' or less.

we're not that exclusive....if we were, the amenity fee would be much, much higher

The boats have scupers on the transom to allow the water to drain. The Captain.

They do not generally remove gators when they reach a specific size. Instead, they are removed when they become too friendly with people. Do Not Feed the Gators!

Removal means calling a hunter. The hunter's only pay comes from selling the meat and hide.

Not long ago, a popular gator that had a name (Larry?) got large and was too unafraid of people. Villagers took their grandkids to throw food to him. He was removed to a gator park to live out his life in captivity. Other gators are not so lucky.

I took the boat ride today. Yes, the gator's name was Larry. It is the ONLY gator taken alive from Sumter. The rest usually end up washed up on a bank dead and are removed. The birds are harder for the gators to catch than fish, so they usually go for the fish. Catfish, Big mouth bass, and wild tilapia. This time of year (according to the boat ride's First Mate) they are more or less dormant. Don't know if I buy that, it's not like the lake freezes. Average depth is 15 feet but there are deeper points. Anyhow, interesting stuff.

You can correct the wrong spelling in your title be going advanced when editing.

Came for the “there is no P in Sumter” posts, left satisfied.

Well, Larry the alligator was removed a couple of years ago from a pond adjacent to the rec trail leading to Brownwood. That is in Sumter co but not Lake Sumter. You can see gators in Lake Sumter during Spring break when the grandkids are here and Grandma and Grandpa take them on the boardwalk to feed them chicken fingers

In Florida, when you see a lake, expect a gator.

How do they get 'em to hold still long enough to measure?

Removal is a myth, if they take a gator it becomes gator bites for lunch. They do not remove unless they become a nuisance. If you stay away they stay away. One gator from here that had celebrity status did go to a refuge.

It’s actually “Cherry Lake”… look at any map. And not only is there no “P” in Sumter, there is also no “N”. I hear so many people call it “Sumpner”. When I politely tell them “It’s ‘Sumter’”, they reply, “That’s what I said, ‘Sumpner’”. They do not hear the difference. They probably spell it correctly, just don’t pronounce it correctly.

carefully

Is that kinda like Libary, axe, and bambulance?

One way to find out if there are gators in the. Lake go for a swim.

Follow up question, who are the various boats on the lake named after? Morse grandchildren maybe?

Be careful about what you hear on the boat rides. I’ve gone several times and heard a different set of entertaining lies on each trip. Talk of pirates was a fun one.

You are correct! Before LSL was built it was Cherry Lake, still is. Guess the developer didn't like the sound of "Cherry Lake Landing" so they gave it their own name when they enlarged the lake. I remember when they sunk that tug in the lake and errected the beacon tower at the "Lewis Lighthouse Restaurant".

Skip

I’ve never tested it myself, but a river guide on the St. John’s told me the distance between the nose and eyes is 1/12th the length. So six inches says the gator is six feet long.

Another mispronunciation is when people refer to the CAL-va-ry when they mean CAV-al-ry. I heard that several times last week on an episode of “Bones”. It’s annoying.

Lol, I've been on the Jungle Cruise at Disney (Anaheim) enough times to know the patter by heart. "Oh no, watch out for the hippo, Bang!"

Last week I went out with a naturalist for a day. He related that every inch from about to eye = one foot in length.

"Bambulance"? That's a new one! :1rotfl:

There are lots and lots of gators in Lake Sumter according to the wildlife guy that taught a class I took. He said to never put your child on the railing cause a gator can jump high enough to grab it. I have never seen a gator there. But apparently many are on the other side and can be seen during the boat tour.

So they only want big gators??? :shocked: I’d rather have the little ones they remove, if I have to have gators.

One came right up to my foot on the dock when the water was high last spring.

You should always think there are gators in every body of water in Fl.

I guess it was September, not April. After the big rains. Small one here but we’ve seen larger near the dock than this.

little ones grow up to become big ones

Just turn the gator over and rub his tummy. Then you can measure.

This is Florida, even the potholes have gators.

👍🏼🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

They ask nicely.🤣

Different dielectrics.

Relater for Realtor, ekcetra for etcetera, Febuary for February, Chimblee for chimney, expresso for espresso, Tee-a-juana for Tijuana come to mind as well.