Gators more active in hotter weather...And gator(s) near LSL
 

Seeing this news video from Tampa linked below, on gators being more active (and aggressive) in hotter weather, reminds me of a troubling incident I saw on the boardwalk below the radio station at Lake Sumter Landing.

As most of you know, there are one or more giant-sized gators in the lake there by LSL and the Lighthouse Restaurant. Routinely, we see a giant one with massive head, near the boardwalk and there are always folks watching and looking for them to surface right there.

About a week ago, at night (it was getting dark, maybe around 9:00 p.m.), I was walking on the boardwalk and saw some young kids watching for the big gator. A couple of adults came up the steps and said, "The gator is there if you want to go look."

I went and stood beside the kids (ages 9 or so thru maybe 14) at the railing on the boardwalk, and everyone was hoping the gator would surface. I did see a splash where the gator had just been, right below the railing.

Several of the kids were extending themselves quite far over the railing to see down in there, but weren't exactly in danger of falling in (yet). They were reaching down toward the water a lot and were joking around and texting, ready to use their camera-phones.

As I talked with a girl who was about 9 years old, I said, "Yes......we do see a giant gator with enormous head in here quite often...you guys need to be very careful and not reach your hands down in there." At that, she said:

"Yeah, but the people told us that that is just a mechanical gator....nothin' to worry about."

I told her, "Well there are real gators in here that are huge, and they are nothing to mess around with. Be really careful along this railing!"

Have any of you heard of this "mechanical" gator stuff somebody would tell kids here??? That really upsets me!

Warm weather means gators are on the move | TBO.com

All I can say to that is just a couple of weeks ago a real alligator took off a mans hand in a boat in some kind of tour. This too was in Florida.

If someone said a gator or the gators are mechanical hereabouts to a kid, it was wrong, silly and dangerous.

No. Maybe that sombody didn't know what they were talking about.

This is not universal

What "is not universal"?

That incident of the man's hand being bitten off in FL is exactly why I was so upset when the girl said "people told us it's mechanical". BTW, there were no adults with them along the whole boardwalk, or I'd have spoken to them about it. Northerners or city folks visiting really don't realize sometimes what wildlife will do.

There was an article in the Orlando Sentinel about six gator getting run over somewhere south of here while trying to cross the road. With the heat and rain they are getting mobile.

Keep your eyes open andkeep Fifi close.

to ILoveTV
 

I think the reply meant this is not Universal Studios (AKA Universal) where they even have that mechanical shark like in Jaws.

Where we at?
 

We ain't in kansas toto!!!!! We tell kids there is a Santa clause, why shouldnt hey believe us?
I wish that this was all I had to upset me? What a charmed liife.

Talking to one of clean up guys in the early morning, he said they were very happy bout the rain the big gator had not been seen in a few days and they were worried he had taken to bushes or the squares for food and a cool spot. Indicated the rain solved all the problem....flirting with dangerous stuff here!

It's probably a waste of time to respond to the snotty comment above, but YES, it WAS very upsetting to see a little girl and siblings leaning over ROPE railings and reaching down toward the water and goofing around, as they could easily have fallen over the rope and into the water, where I had just seen the gator splash as he went under a minute before.

And the girl was dead serious in saying they didn't have to worry because "people told us it's mechanical anyway".

And as to "What a charmed life."...... You can go stuff it.

Next thing we'll hear is something tragic happened due to stupidity and being just plain naive. Folks watch that stuff on t.v. where guys catch gators and nothing seems to happen and it's seemingly all done in fun. The gators in FL (except at Disney perhaps) are NOT mechanical folks!! I've heard the stories of folks here in T.V. that spotted a gator on shore and ran close to get a photo of it. Most times, these critters will quickly slither into the water BUT what "if" that one time it didn't????!!!!

You see the signs down on the boardwalk too, that say, "Don't feed the gators!". BUT one day were were sitting and having an ice cream cone by the radio station and what should you see but folks throwing food out at the gator that was swimming close by!! Guess they can't read English...OR...don't think the signs apply to them!

This northerner knows that he has to check for bears and deer when I let the dogs out. He also knows to watch for snakes wherever he goes. Coyotes are common and we see an occasional fox. We don't have gators but we do have an abundance of wildlife here in the mountains of New York.

I see what you mean and you are right. I should have said "wildlife they've never lived around". I'm a "northerner" too and was referring to people who've never seen gators in real life, outside of a zoo.

Adk
 

I'm ADK 46R 2156 Climbed them all in four years, finished in 1985, MacNaughton Slide and Hunter in the Catskills also. All the over 4k. Could be why I need knee replacement soon.

Someone told me that the gators are active now because it's mating season.

John

The original comment regarding the kids hanging on the ropes along the boardwalk hit a nerve with me. We have seen small children running, hanging and climbing the ropes and it is frightening. Most often parents and grandparents are around. There have been times where we have shortened a walk along the lake because it is so upsetting to see this, it seems like a tragedy waiting to happen. A fall, a slip and it would be easy for a small child to slip under those ropes.

I personally wish the powers that be would change out the vertical ropes for something safer. I am not sure what that would be and of course I recognize the need to keep the visual atmosphere of the boardwalk in tact. But there has to be a safer alternative.

I was present on the boardwalk when the gator would surface around 9 p.m. last week. I did hear an adult though saying that this was a mechanical gator. It is quite stupid to make these kind of comments when kids are around as they might want to get close enough to want to check this out for themselves.

The man that said this gator was mechanical was a tourist visiting the Villages with his family.

Do Not Feed The Animals
 

This is a particular peeve of mine. People who have absolutely no respect for nature or wildlife and think that they can feed critters for their own amusement only to condemn the animal to death. Once a wild animal is fed they approach people and bam, a death sentence is handed out because the animal is too aggressive. This is what happened to the Buffalo, people picking up tiny children to pet the buffalo and then complaining that the animal frightened them. Pitiful....

Belittleing the original poster is another example of being ignorant about wildlife and the havoc they can cause. A gator can leap quite high and snatch it's prey. People, especially small children, are no match for a hungry gator and hanging over a railing is a disaster waiting to happen. This is not Disney, it's the real world and we need to learn to coexist with the wildlife around us and be safe while doing so. Another rant, please do not feed the Cranes, they told me they don't like wonder bread, it makes them too fat to fly.

Thank you very much for acknowledging exactly what I wrote about.

Parents need to accompany and keep an eye on their kids under age 14 or so, especially on vacation.

Perhaps a letter to The Sun's editor would be forth-coming!!! Alot of folks in T.V. do not know about this site...I know from talking about it to others when in conversation. Someone needs to be proactive about this as it's nothing to trifle with when safety is a factor.

What could change to make the boardwalk safe for unattended children?
 

It is the same as the buffalo. Grandparents were going over the first of two fences to take their grandkids close to feed the buffalo that used to be penned in areas around town. The buffalo who had recently given birth were dangerously protective. They are wild animals. They are not domestic pets with personalities who like people.

The developer removed the buffalo and there was thread after thread on here with all kinds of criticism of the developer.

Things have not changed. Human children are not born ready to fend for themselves. It is a long and challenging job getting them to that point. If kids are not accompanied by adults here, it leaves the rest of us to feel we have to watch out for those kids and that isn't our job anymore. It is one of the reasons I moved here so I don't have to worry about kids and watch them unattended do dangerous things.

I love children, I love to be around them, but I don't want to have to worry about them.

So if we wrote The Sun, what would we say? I'd say that children need always to be accompanied by adults, but the squares are public areas. And even if they are with adults, the adults sometimes have less sense than the kids.:shrug:

Well said! I must add to what I said earlier (was not very clear) that we have seen parents allowing their children to run and hang on the ropes, etc. on the boardwalk. They are usually walking along as the kids run ahead. Since the lack of supervision by some parents cannot be changed, it really is necessary for someone to step in to make the area safer.

Several years ago I was in a hotel pool and a mother and grandmother were chatting in the pool and had three small children with them. The two older ones had arm floatation bands, the younger one, about a year old did not and the mother had him sitting on the inside ledge of the pool. My husband and I were keeping an eye on the children because the mom and grandmother were not.

Very quietly, the little one just slipped in under the water...no splash, no sound. I ran across the pool and snatched that baby up and handed him to his mother. I could not speak, it was terrifying. The mother said nothing to me at first as I really think it took her a minute to realize what happened. At first she looked at me like - what are you doing with my baby? She finally muttered an embarrassed thank you. We left the pool afterwards as I needed to go and have a good cry. I can't imagine what would have happened had we not been there at that moment. We were the only ones there at the same time as that family. All I could do was thank God we had been there at that moment.

Bringing it back to your comment Gracie, about loving children but not wanting to worry about them....I am with you.

I dont remember seeing any, but are there sign warning about the gators on the boardwalk and other areas where gators might be?

Two comments (and let me say I've always been terrified of gators)

First, some of the critics of TV in books have complained about all of the fake historical signs around. I have no problem with those, think they are kind of fun. But I drove down there yesterday and the sign about not feeding the gators is the same style as others around the square. I wonder if anyone thinks it's just another fake sign to add atmosphere.

Second, most Americans live in places where there simply are no animals capable of hunting them. Some people in mountainous areas have bears, cougars and a few other things big enough to kill them,but to most people it just never occurs to them to be cautious. Sure they might try to avoid snakes and spiders and such, but most of them are hiding somewhere so you just need to look out for them. Even the buffalo someone mentioned won't come looking for you. But it never occurs that there might be something actually considering you as prey.

Finally my daughter had a good comment about the adult that told those kids that the gator was fake. She said they should feed him to the gators.

It is too bad. An adult should realize just how deadly these things could be.

Old Dave, my sentiments exactly. We've lost respect for nature and it's wild critters because we have lived in protective enviornments for so long.
Recently there has been a rash of venonmous snake bites; people think they can reach under a bush and weed or as I use to do, walk in the grass barefooted (until I ran into fire ants) without using caution. I use to live in South Florida and there was a case about a lady jogger who ran the same park path each day. One day a huge gator attacked and dragged her into the pond. The consensus was that he stalked her and found his opportunity. Today I saw a snapping turtle trying to cross the cart path with lots of traffic. As I approached the turtle a lady stopped and said be careful it's a snapping turtle and she pushed it along with her foot. I, on the other hand would have picked it up being ignorant about turtles. There is so much to learn living in this beautiful, lush enviornment and I fall in love with the beauty all around me on a daily basis.

No fake Alligator in any lake or pond in the Villages. And for any adult to take a chance with the safety of a child send chills down my spine. I retired after 35 years with the fire department in Florida. I have seen my share of bites by wildlife. Now I'm your Aalligator Trapped, working with Village management. When one needs removed, we have no other course of action. The Alligator shown or displayed action treating to humans or someone's pet. Just remember a Alligator can come out of the water to within one foot of his or hers tail. So a 8 foot Alligator can come straight up to within7 foot. The action is like of a fish, up then back down.

"If kids are not accompanied by adults here, it leaves the rest of us to feel we have to watch out for those kids and that isn't our job anymore. It is one of the reasons I moved here so I don't have to worry about kids and watch them unattended do dangerous things."


"Just remember an Alligator can come out of the water to within one foot of his or hers tail.

So an 8 foot Alligator can come straight up to within 7 foot. The action is like of a fish, up... then back down."

These are two key points on why I started this thread. More and more, we see very young kids left to their own devices. I was taking pictures of the lighthouse and down toward the hotel that night on the boardwalk in front of the radio station. When I looked at the pictures after I made the first post, I looked at my pictures to verify what a couple of posters here were pooh-poohing as an over-reaction on my part. :ohdear:

The little girl looks like she's about 8 years old and the boys she was with looked 10-12 years old. There was no adult in sight besides me. I really feared for them, jostling around on the rope fence with their camera phones, and reaching down and leaning down toward the water to see if the gator would surface again where I'd just seen him go under.

When the little girl told me "Oh....it's a mechanical gator anyway, people told us", I told her to be really, really careful because there are live, giant ones that can come up and bite at something like a hand etc. She and the other kids were being kids and weren't listening too closely (remember kids are taught "not to talk to strangers").

It's really aggravating to have to watch other people's kids after doing that for decades with our own. But some parents couldn't care less. And then they would be FURIOUS if we had called the police or community watch because they're behaving dangerously and we would have called only because we CARED. The only reason I didn't call authorities to warn them is because they finally started slowly moving away from the ropes, toward the steps up to the sidewalk.

Gators
 

A suggestion to the restaurant would be to replace unsafe rope for plexis glass - everyone can see the water, but nobody will fall in. I can't imagine the restaurant wants to take the financial risk of something happening. Makes me cringe thinking of a small child falling into the water there.

Has anyone fallen in the lake, not talking about the people who are at the squares.

This was NOT at a restaurant! It was on the open boardwalk at Lake Sumter Landing, below the shelter and radio station. It is a public place.

Parents and grandparents need to accompany and supervise their kids instead of expecting property owners to anticipate every possible behavior that irresponsible parents do nothing about.

The one in the pic in another thread is nice size.

Is there a limit as to the size of these pets they allow before they are relocated?

Moreover, do they relocate?

If they are larger than 4' long, they are killed for meat & hide by licensed trappers.

I am more worried about the kids than the alligators.

Yes they do..remove them by some criteria that is not published or known..but spoke about behind hands. Good...away is good.

Out the door.

See ya later, alligator.

Welcome Firewalker, I read on another thread where you said you were an Alligator Trapper for the state and that you remove alligators from our ponds. I appreciate hearing about your experiences regarding alligators since so many of us are northerners and do not have a good appreciation for these wild creatures. I love to see them but at a distance. To hear that an 8 ft alligator can jump straight up 7 ft is frightening and hopefully people will take heed. I know that when an alligator snatches his prey he rolls until he feels that they are subdued and then drowns them. We are destined to live among them so we need to learn and respect them and give them their space. How large can an alligator get in TV before he is removed and destroyed? Hope to hear more from you.

Just my thinking but shouldn't the villages have the gator removed from the lake. If a large gator is in there and I have no reason to believe that it is not. Everyone should notify the village to have it removed before someone is hurt.

You can't fix stupid (not the poster) but individuals who believe that interacting with alligators is cool. There are alligators in almost every pond in TV, that's a given; keeping your distance as you would any wild animal is the only way to insure safety. We had buffalo who were amazing wild creatures and once again people decided to feed or pose with them and they were injured. Out went the buffalo and a unique part of TV was lost. Think about Yellowstone Park, should all the wild creatures be removed so that people can be safe; using common sense isn't so common any more. We need to learn to coexist with nature, they are not here for our amusement.:spoken:

Yes Duffysmom!!!!!!:BigApplause:

All I can say
 

Okay, having read all the post to this thread and will soon be a "FROG", I'm the guy you don't want to get in front of at the grocery store in the "10 items or less express lane" with a cart full of groceries. The cashiers can not tell the customer they are in the express lane, so who does that leave it up to? YOU and I!!!!

I'm not rude about it, but I don't mind saying anything. It will be the same way anywhere else. If I see an unsafe or stupid act, I'm not shy and will "call it to your attention"! :laugh: You can be diplomatic about it (which is defined as "stepping on someone's shoes without hurting the shine"). :icon_wink:

Having been a Scout leader, I'm all about correcting and teaching young people about safety and following rules.

:spoken:

As big as the people who live around him or her fell comfortably living with. It only trapped after it becomes a problem. If the alligator causes concern for the safety of people or pet's, it will be removed. What on a alligators food chain becomes larger as the alligator grows larger. I prefer relocation of the alligator I trap. But some are just to darn mean, and must be destroyed.

Sorry I posted a reply to your request to places below this..should have tapped quick reply.