There is nothing to be solved.

I recall some Japanese tourists at John Chestnut Park in Palm Harbor taking pictures of one another while standing a foot if that from a rather good sized gator. John Chestnut Park borders Lake Tarpon which has a very large number of alligators.

I'm far more afraid of 150,000 elderly and possibly drunk folks on golf carts than I am of alligators. I can steer clear of the alligators but dodging the old codgers is tough.

Good Point LeRoy.

I seen gators on golf courses. Villages should ban golfing.

IMO easier to dodge old villager than lightning fast gator.

Oooh...that ones gonna hurt! ;)

Just as outrageous as the other. :)

without any real knowledge of what happened, I'm in agreement with you. I can't see how else the hand would be the target as opposed to a foot or a leg.

They should definitely ban gators from golfing.

The gator was Muslim and was enforcing Sharia law. The man had stolen his fish.... so he cut his hand off.

Sure, let's just go out & kill every known animal that might injure a human even though alligator attacks are extremely rare & usually the fault of the human due to stupidity. Humans are the most dangerous animal on the planet and the earth would be in better shape if humans were eliminated.

It not possible to remove every gator from every pond. Another one will just take its place. And remember, it’s the one you DON’T see is the one you need to worry about.

But their behavior is very predictable. Just be aware and keep yourselves and especially your dogs away from the ponds for everyone’s safety.

It’s happened…at Disney no less. Bottom line: You can fix stupid. It’s public knowledge in Florida. STAY AWAY FROM THE PONDS. We invaded the gators’ 🐊 home. Deal with it.

The Village's Freshwater Fishing Club encourages fishing in the ponds. Just held classes on how to fish the ponds.

WHAT? Off topic. But as long as you brought it up: Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.

Since The Villages is a private community and all ponds , etc are owned by The Villages why is there any issue with eradicating the problem here?? IMHO safety of the humans and DOMESTIC animals living here should be top priority. Not the survival of a cold blooded amphibian creature that attacks when not provoked. Blaming the victim as not having enough sense to be constantly on guard for being attacked while enjoying what should be a relatively safe environment????

Have some empathy ❤️*🩹
 

I dislike victim blaming, as I see in some of the posts here. That’s because people are imperfect and make mistakes, and that’s part of the human condition. This man in Leesburg, we don’t know what he might struggle with and why he chose that activity. Here in The Villages, people are generally quite wary of ponds and other bodies of water, and what they likely contain.

Anyway, I feel for him, wish him well and hope that he will adapt well to his new situation.

Let’s not go overboard here! No don’t kill every alligator in the world to the point of extinction. Let’s get some gray area in here. Not black and white. Let’s just prevent alligators from inhabiting an over 55 retirement community where most folks averaging in their mid 69’s would like to relax and enjoy the idyllic lifestyle advertised and for which they pay without worrying about being eaten by a cold blooded predatory creature or having their companion domesticated pets eaten. Now doesn’t that sound more tempered?

You’re really not listening, are you? If you’re near a pond, with or without “Fluffy”, you’re essentially provoking them. They feed along the water’s edge.

There are almost ZERO unprovoked gator attacks. Even when male gators are more aggressive during mating season, they have little interest in humans----UNLESS you present food, or some other idiots have been feeding them, in which case they learn to associate people with food. In general, they are far more afraid of people that vice versa. Would you retrieve that golf ball my friend hit? No problem, that gator was in the water in 1/2 second. Would you slap a 9 footer's tail like Cody Gribble did at Bay Hill---no way!!!

Build a wall around TV?
Netting overhead to guard against flying predators?
Shoot all predatory wild life within TV?
Incidents of gator or any wildlife attack is probably the lowest cause of death and injury of all incidents within TV.
You are more likely to be attacked by someone's pet than roaming wild animals.
TV is a safe an environment as any, and safer than most, but the minimal wildlife danger can be mitigated with basic common sense, not some knee-jerk reaction to something that happened elsewhere.

Every fisherman in the freshwater fishing club fishes in Florida. All the people fishing the stock ponds in the Villages.

Suppose you are not in your right mind if you go into the ocean more shark attacks than gators biting fisherman.

Bottom line: Establishments, organizations and, yes, governments (etc) that cater to the masses (which include children or other at-risk folks) should do all they can to insure the environment is safe. That includes safe from bombs, fire, disease, crime, alien attacks, wild predatory animals, zombies, etc. Why do we keep putting the responsibility on to each person instead? “They should know better,etc”. “They” pay, vote for and expect the people at the top to insure safety.

But you wouldn’t be provoking them if they were not there would you?? YOU are not listening: more bluntly stated - eradicate, kill or otherwise remove every alligator within The Villages

OK, I get it. Another proponent of the Orwellian nightmare. Yes, "the government" will keep us safe. There was no significant crime in Oceania. The only individual responsibility was unquestioning loyalty and obedience to the state. No thanks, I'll take my chances with the gators (and especially the zombies:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl::)

Again, another over the top black or white comment. No don’t kill all wild creatures on the planet or in The Villages. Leave the birds in the air. Let the snakes exist. Even those annual love bugs. Let’s just get rid of the alligators from our over 55 retirement community. OK. Mike drop!!!

I give up. Got better things to do. Here’s your sign.

Even the venomous snakes that can kill you???? Kind of discriminatory, don't you think????? (pick the mike up again)

It's called personal responsibility.
It is a dying personal application that was inherent in most people until everything became someone else's fault.
This nanny state you advocate is the reason overdeveloped countries are dying from within.
People are so soft and reliant on being herded, told what is good for them, that they have nearly lost all personal means of self survival!.
How some people actually reach old age, in many cases, absolutely amazes me!

Please explain where you have seen this model? To remove an animal from their habitat that multiplies to the millions? I suggest late posters do their due diligence and read ALL prior posts. You're on their land. You need to adapt...not them.

More tempered, yes, but still unrealistic and unnecessary. How many gator attacks have you ever heard of in The Villages?

I routinely watch golfers walk past the RED stakes to a pond ( behind my house ), take out a ball retriever and churn the water trying to get a golf ball. I usually yell and tell them the pond has a gator in it. They say thanks and keep doing it. Humans are not very smart when it comes to this.

I'm a hack so there is no body of water or wooded area that I'm gonna risk personal safety over retrieving my Titleist. Unless you're a tour player, take the penalty. Gators, unarmed, are undefeated!

Again, except in unusual circumstances, the gator has no interest in the golfer or his ball. But it is a good idea to scan the nearby water for gators before getting too close. If they are in a position to "attack" (which they probably won't do), they are pretty obvious.

When was the last time a golfer retrieving a golf ball was attacked by a gator???? Anyone????

If you're a "hack", save the money and play Top Flites or Pinnacles :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

This is why we cant have nice things! That audio equipment is expensive.

Boston area company. I buy local! ;)

In an article I read ,the witness said he was removing the fish from the hook,whivh would make sense

Removal of Alligators that reach over 6 feet
 

I lived in a community in Bonita and they removed any gators over 6 feet in length. I have seen some over 10 feet in ponds in TV while golfing.
I am in favor or removal... we have a nice community and I often have grand children down to visit. we can tell them about the dangers all day long but they are kids.