Originally Posted by Jbellio (Post 2311317)

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.

Originally Posted by Sandy and Ed (Post 2311231)

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

Originally Posted by vintageogauge (Post 2310909)

I feel bad for the fisherman but safety starts at home, no one should be fishing in a pond known to have alligators, there have been warnings about this for years but some people think they know better. The way to prevent the attack is to not fish in the ponds and to stay away from them.

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston (Post 2311272)

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!

Originally Posted by Bill14564 (Post 2310961)

They have banned fishing on golf courses and on certain ponds that are visible from "water view" homes.

The Villages should allow and encourage fishing.

Originally Posted by Maker (Post 2311337)

More info about the victim. He was 52 and visiting from New Jersey.
Was warned to beware of the alligators. Did not understand that alligators attack unprovoked. Did not see the alligator until it was attacking him.

If that alligator was removed, this would not have happened. This WAS preventable.

Originally Posted by Maker (Post 2311337)

More info about the victim. He was 52 and visiting from New Jersey.
Was warned to beware of the alligators. Did not understand that alligators attack unprovoked. Did not see the alligator until it was attacking him.

If that alligator was removed, this would not have happened. This WAS preventable.

Originally Posted by Justputt (Post 2311339)

You are a "hack" and waste Titleist balls???? Head to the bargain bin and save some money. The first time I went to Myrtle Beach was long long ago with a group that lost their 12th player at the last minute, so I was asked by my brother to go, out of sheer desperation. I'd been playing for <6 months, and a really good day was breaking 100! I took 12 18-ball packs of golf balls.... At the end of the week, I came home with around 2-3 sleeves..... Target courses with high grass past the first cut of rough, like Prestwick ate me up. Gators were common as were copperheads, free drop.... leave the ball behind even when you can see it.

Originally Posted by RRGuyNJ (Post 2311340)

Judging by the comments, I guess everyone feels fishing should be banned state wide. The old saying is if there is water, there is most likely a gator.

Originally Posted by Bill14564 (Post 2311358)

Absolutely it was preventable. If the visitor from New Jersey had heeded the warning, paid more attention to his surroundings, and not reached towards the water it would not have happened.

Originally Posted by Maker (Post 2311337)

More info about the victim. He was 52 and visiting from New Jersey.
Was warned to beware of the alligators. Did not understand that alligators attack unprovoked. Did not see the alligator until it was attacking him.

If that alligator was removed, this would not have happened. This WAS preventable.

Originally Posted by golfing eagles (Post 2311275)

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

Originally Posted by Maker (Post 2311372)

It's so easy to blame the victim. I blame the aggressor, who attacked without warning.
If it was another human that attacked, would people still be blaming the victim? Or would the attacker be sitting in jail?

Originally Posted by Maker (Post 2311337)

More info about the victim. He was 52 and visiting from New Jersey.
Was warned to beware of the alligators. Did not understand that alligators attack unprovoked. Did not see the alligator until it was attacking him.

If that alligator was removed, this would not have happened. This WAS preventable.

Originally Posted by vintageogauge (Post 2311379)

The alligator doesn't understand. The visitor was warned but failed to heed the warning. Yes, this WAS totally preventable had he listened to his host this would not have happened, don't blame the alligator, he just wanted that fish. STAY AWAY FROM THE PONDS, LOOK FROM AFAR.

Originally Posted by golfing eagles (Post 2311382)

About 5 years ago I tripped over the tail of a 7 footer on #5 of Caroline looking for my drive that ran through the fairway and into the rough short of the pond---my fault for not paying attention. That gator was very quick---set a new record for the 50 yard alligator dash---running away to the water. They simply aren't that interested in humans except in the circumstances I already outlined.

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston (Post 2311385)

Like a filet o fish sandwich?

Originally Posted by golfing eagles (Post 2311388)

They are not rocket scientists. The see a fish and think "mmmm, fish". They do not think "Oh, that fish is held by the arm of a human and I don't want to hurt a person, I just want lunch, so I won't try to grab that fish"

Originally Posted by Two Bills (Post 2311396)

Some years ago, my wife and I overwintered at Cocoa Beach, and played the Lake and Dolphin Golf Club on a regular basis.
The gators that live on that course are BIG.
Nearby, Cape Canaveral had some of the biggest gators we have ever seen.
Most golfers and tourists survive the experience!

Originally Posted by golfing eagles (Post 2311398)

Most???? I'm willing to bet 99.99999%

Originally Posted by Bill14564 (Post 2311405)

Did you calculate that or was it just a really good guess?

131M tourists in 2019 with an average of eight unprovoked alligator attacks per year over the last ten years gives 99.99999% of the tourists are not attacked. The percentage is even higher if any of those eight attacks had been against non-tourists.

Originally Posted by Maker (Post 2310964)

Nobody deserves to be attacked by an alligator, for any reason, no matter how infrequent that happens.
We have the ability to Mitigate = reduce the risk.

Allow trappers to capture alligators in ponds adjacent to homes without any regulatory hoops to jump through. No fee for a permit. Allowed during daylight, and any time at the request of PD.
Take one or take all. The more, the better.
It's safer for humans. Safer for children. Safer for visitors and pets.

If another one moves in, get rid of that one too. Eventually there will be a lot fewer near residents.
There are millions of them, and removing a few thousand living near people will not have any impact on them.

If only that one had been removed... a man would not be in the hospital. He and his family would not have to deal with the life changing amputation, the pain and suffering, and a huge financial problem that alligator caused.

Originally Posted by golfing eagles (Post 2310943)

Arctic Ocean???😂😂😂

Originally Posted by Maker (Post 2311337)

More info about the victim. He was 52 and visiting from New Jersey.
Was warned to beware of the alligators. Did not understand that alligators attack unprovoked. Did not see the alligator until it was attacking him.

If that alligator was removed, this would not have happened. This WAS preventable.

Originally Posted by Pairadocs (Post 2311029)

Who ? In my opinion (as a Florida native who retired in Florida), I think MANY people in their right mind have no idea, or a very vague idea they may have picked up from movies (?) about exactly what danger an alligator poses to people and animals. If folks come from a midwest state, or plains, northern, etc. where there are no alligators, they have no idea, just as I would have no idea of the dangers posed by a moose, or buffalo (since the only ones I've ever been around were the ones raised by the Villages at one time...and, apparently deemed more dangerous than the alligators since many people sat their grandchildren ON the rails of the herd's pastures... or, perhaps the interest in and price of buffalo meat dropped. But either way, they disappeared. I believe the Florida wildlife department will still remove alligators if reported in place like the Villages, but perhaps no longer since I certainly see my share of them when playing golf. I don't like to be a "chicken little the sky is falling", but, I would hope people would let new comers know it is truly not a good idea to go looking for a ball you think landed very close to the edge of a large pond; DEFINITELY not along the right edge of #8 on Heron !

Originally Posted by Sandy and Ed (Post 2311231)

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

Originally Posted by Sandy and Ed (Post 2311231)

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

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston (Post 2311359)

Wait ‘waste Titleist’? And then you advise ‘leave the ball behind even when you can see it?.....thank you for making my point. Btw, Titleist has bargain bins ;)

Originally Posted by Maker (Post 2310942)

Perhaps it's time to value human life more than an alligator ?
When will people get upset over a problem that can mitigated? Will it take a child to get killed?

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston (Post 2311356)

Are you serious?! Do you know how many gators live in TV? So you now know THAT gator? The perp? Unreal

Originally Posted by Inexes@aol.com (Post 2311505)

Did you read the post? You are aware that this did not happen in The Villages, right???
Everyone is responding as though this happened here...... it did not. It happened in a community in Leesburg.......

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston (Post 2311510)

As these threads evolve, the supposition was about TV by most of the posters. “If they had removed the gator”! Didn’t know and you can include Leesburg, that residents know specific gators, amongst thousands, intimately.

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston (Post 2311510)

As these threads evolve, the supposition was about TV by most of the posters. “If they had removed the gator”! Didn’t know and you can include Leesburg, that residents know specific gators, amongst thousands, intimately.