|
Tell me your "gator" stories from TV!
Are they a concern? Do you see them? Where are they most seen? Has anyone or any pet been killed or injured by them? And, do they really taste like chicken? :a040:
|
Two years ago on the 14th hole of Arnold Palmer a gator approached me. My first reaction was to run like a little girl, but my he-man instincts took over and I challenged him to a boxing match. He stood on his rear legs and we went toe to toe, man to gator and fought it out . His short arms proved to be a great disadvantage to him and I peppered him with numerous jabs to his snout before landing a haymaker to his gigantic jaw, an easy target. He went reeling backward. I finished him with a nine iron to the skull. He ran away sniveling like the cowardly creature he was. My advice to anyone who encounters a gator is to fight on your own terms. They’re terrible boxers.
|
Quote:
|
A year ago last spring I was sitting on the couch about 6 PM when I heard a knock at the front door. Normal time for the UPS man to come around.i looked towards the door and saw a shadow. I got up and went to front door thinking a package had been delivered. Opened the door and bent down only to find a four foot gator staring me in the face. Slammed the door shut and texted my wife to say you always wanted to see a gator up close, we have one at the front door. She said yeah right so I sent her a picture I took from the front yard. Next thing I knew I had half the neighborhood in the yard asking me what I was going to do. I got a garbage can,picked up the gator and took him to a local pond. True story!
|
Quote:
On a serious note, a number of years ago a dog got taken near a pond around Sumter Landing-- a WESTIE I think-- and its owner jumped in a wrestled the gator and pulled the pooch away. There was some injury to the dog but none to the man that I remember. It made the national news and the guy posted in here (Talk of the Villages) a little bit under the name Gator Gus. |
We saw Larry the Gator on the Trolley ride somewhere around Brownwood. The only other one we spotted was in the pond on the right when you are coming over the Golf Cart Bridge from The Historic Section. It was thrilling but by the time I fumbled with the camera in the Cell Phone, it was gone.
I understand your question but it is a Non Issue really once you live here other than using common sense. I can't tell you how much it bothers me to see an adult fishing near a pond with little kids standing on the bank of the pond. But just like Golf Carts and other issues if the kids aren't mine then mum's the word! Just move here and don't worry about the BIG SNAKES! :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl: :mademyday: I would never order Gator Bites. I tried someone else's and didn't care for them. |
The guy across the street and two doors down married one.
|
There is a great recipe in Martha Stewart Living this month for gator brownies.
|
We have one, and sometimes two, 4 to 5 foot gators that often visit and hang out in and around the retention pond behind our Veranda. They can't climb the 3' vertical stone wall behind our home so we don't worry too much about close encounters. Along with the other wildlife around here, this is their environment and we are just living in it.
But for what it's worth, yes gator tail tastes remarkably like chicken, as do frog legs. I tend to just stick with the chicken. |
That is TERRIBLE advice, Yung Dum!
The one I boxed sued me. He was a litigator. While I was in court his cousin nipped me from behind. He was a tailgator. The bite got infected and now I have gatoraids. I don't think you're human, Yung Dum. You're nothing but an instigator! |
Best pair of Golf Shoes I own.
|
...
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
My best gator story. Every year on the Saturday following Thanksgiving is when we do the family Thanksgiving at my sister in laws house. My brother in law a die hard gator fan has 6 TV's in the house. All on and all tuned into the game. Of course I pick the seminoles to make the day more interesting. This year to my surprise we have half the TV's tuned into the Ohio State game. I ask hey what gives ? I hear some mumblings about this guy Urban Meyers and something about Benedict Arnold. The next sentence is if I had a choice I'd rather see Ohio State lose than the Gators win. My sister law comes in the room and makes the small talk with me. Says what do you have to be thankful for this year ? I say thankful for Urban development.
|
Quote:
|
A little one ran out onto the cart path in front of us causing me to literally lock the brakes and skid to a stop. He was coming from the golf course and had intentions of crossing 466. I didn't want him to get run over so I herded him back onto the golf course. He was only about two and a half feet long. Several days later, I noticed an unidentifiable road kill near that spot on 466. It was about two and a half feet long.
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...pturegator-png |
It's generally thought that any body of water in alligator territory (which includes ALL of Florida) large enough to physically fit an alligator will at some point in time have an alligator in it. You DO see them in The Villages... and everywhere outside of The Villages, too!
People who grew up here (which I was not fortunate enough to do) say that gators generally feed at dusk or dawn and only have to feed once a week or so. If you see them laying up on the grass outside of a body of water, they are normally just storing up solar energy to allow them to digest. They are NOT trying to feed then. To feed, they generally stay in the water and grab things that are either already in the water or at water's edge. Alligators can be quite fast, but not for long. If you stay at least 20 feet or more from them, they will usually not even try to go for you, figuring that you'll leap away and get away from them while they use up their short burst of speed. Of course, if you let your pet run free or on a long leash and they like to stay down at the edge of the water and bark at that funny looking log, they might easily end up as a gator snack. Some people are proud of the fact that they call animal control whenever they see an alligator in ponds behind their houses. These gators are caught and killed; they are NOT resettled in some distant swamp or gator sanctuary. To me, that's just a crying shame. They really don't bother us and they were here first. Alligators are wonderfully adapted survivors based on millions of years of evolution and yet we might be the death of them. Watch and enjoy them instead. It's really thrilling to watch one arch his head and tail up and bellow in the water to attract a mate; you'll see the water "dance" all along their backs. Just never, EVER feed them! They will associate humans with food and overcome their leeriness of humans and start to follow us. They they have to be caught and killed. As they say, "A fed alligator is a dead alligator." I've tried gator meat with very mixed success. I had it in Texas once with some wonderful sauce and it was very tasty. Almost every other time, I must have gotten the bad cuts of meat as it so gristly that it was like chewing on knuckles. Your mileage may vary. If you want to see some HUGE alligators, go to Gator World near The Villages (you can even hold a small one!) or Gator Land down in Orlando. Busch Gardens has some big ones as well. By the way, alligators aren't the only wildlife in The Villages. People (not me, but I'm still looking) have seen Florida panthers, bobcat, coyote and otters. My wife and I have seen raccoons, armadillos, turtles and a large variety of great birds. There are some great spots like the Rose Weichens Preserve and the walking trails down in Fenney plus tons of parks, wildlife preserves, landfills and other great places outside The Villages to see wildlife. There are also any number of groups who enjoy going to see them, such as The Village Birders for birding. <full disclosure: I am a proud member of The Village Birders and also The Brownwood Birders> |
Quote:
|
American crocodile removed from Lake Tarpon - YouTube
Hope you never see one of these in these parts. |
We live in Sanibel, not near water. Nearest golf course is about a half mile away. This past summer my neighbor found one on our property line. Was a "young" one, at 5 feet (ugh). Trapper came and got him about 6 hours later, but we thought we didn't have to worry about them because of our location. Go figure.
|
I've lived in Florida for a long time, but the only close encounter I've had was down in the Winter Garden area. I was driving into Winter Garden on a back road and was startled to see a small gator - about 3 -4 ft long- right in the center of the road. I stopped, and fortunately he turned around and went back into the bushes. He'd been heading for the new McDonald's across the street, maybe to check out the fast food?
It's not a good idea to try to retrieve golf balls from the water around here. You can try out gator at a couple of the local restaurants if curious. I prefer cow. |
I was standing on the tee box of #6 Egret last year waiting to hit and looked to my left and there was a gator that was as big as Larry the Gator at Brownwood about 20’ away. I started easing back and I guess the gator finally saw me and “flew” back into the marsh area.
My wife was playing Laurel Manor earlier this year with some of her friends and was on the par 5 2nd hole; there was a gator on the opposite side of the pond (#9 tee box side) and one of her friends went down to the edge of the pond to snap a pic. I guess the gator didn’t like that and jumped into the water and headed toward her. |
1 Attachment(s)
This little guy was at LSL
|
Quote:
|
A few months ago I was out for a stroll at about 3:00 AM on my cart. I saw a rather large gator laying in the grass next to the cart path. Being the jerk that I am, I proceeded to drive right toward it's face.....Gator didn't like that one bit and turned and ran. Those gators are QUICK for being such lethargic sociopaths.
|
There are gators everywhere in Florida. I don't swim in the water here, nor take my dog very close. I'm in St.James and they picked up a pretty good sized gator (7 feet if I recall) right on the corner of Buena Vista and St.Charles on the golf cart path by the St.James gate. I've seen them in the water at Sumter Landing and at the big pond on 466 and Morse. Gators are quite fast and stealthy, be careful.
|
Quote:
Larry the Alligator - Home | Facebook |
When I moved here six years ago gator sightings were common, even frequent. In fact, in our golf group we would joke that only the new guys would comment on seeing a gator in the pond. Now, even though I play three times a week year round, I might see a gator just a few times a year, and it's usually a very small one. My guess is that they are being removed. I've eaten gator once, at a restaurant, and can best describe the taste as chicken with a fishy background. Not really pleasant, and kind of tough too. The most common gator in The Villages is the tail-gator, and you can see them every day on Morse Blvd., north of 466. I wish there was a way to have them removed too.
|
Quote:
:thumbup: |
Quote:
The best frog legs I ever had were in a Chinese restaurant on the boardwalk in Hollywood (Florida). They were uuuuuuge! |
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:31 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by
DragonByte SEO v2.0.32 (Pro) -
vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.