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