[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Bill

Don’t worry, around here it’s a big deal when one is spotted in a lake people will stop to take a look.

People stop to watch car wrecks........all the same, same.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by Velvet

I work in my yard too, perhaps not as much as you seem to, but I do like gardening. I have found a black snake coiled under a bush I was trimming. And bees or hornets in another bush, and two birds protecting their nest in another bush, the birds were aggressive! So now days I come out with a soapy spray and spray the bush first, everything moves away, and then I trim it. Never saw an alligator in the gardens at Mallory perhaps maybe ones that face the golf course. I wonder if bear spray would work on alligators? I never hear anybody mentioning it.

The gators here seen relatively docil, probably well feed from fish and birds in the ponds. Just keep your distance.

Fire ants are my nemesis - especially thanks to an alleric reaction.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by airdote22

Termites are to be more likely than gaters near water.

No dog or human has EVER been killed by a TERMITE.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by coffeebean

My main concern with gators is that I work in my yard. I'm on my hands and knees or cleaning out foliage lots of times and would worry that a gator just may come up from behind me. It's hard to "be aware of your surroundings" when you are knee deep in yard work.

Get one of those rear-view mirrors that are sold at bicycle shops.......problem solved.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by kkingston57

99.9% of the time, No. Generally they stay at or near good sized ponds/lakes. Also they are defensive animals,

Watch the video as that DEFENSIVE animal SNUFFS the life out of a human WOMAN. That was pretty OFFENSIVE to her......to the MAX !

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Altavia

The gators here seen relatively docil, probably well feed from fish and birds in the ponds. Just keep your distance.

Fire ants are my nemesis - especially thanks to an alleric reaction.

They are "docile" in the warm sunlight of the afternoon. At night they turn into KILLER water DINOSAURS ! Also early morning and twilight.

[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

They are "docile" in the warm sunlight of the afternoon. At night they turn into KILLER water DINOSAURS ! Also early morning and twilight.

Seems as if “common” sense is a rarity with some.

People do stupid things all the time. Stay out in the Florida sun too long and (depending on the amount of exposed untanned skin) you’ll suffer a sunburn. Nice long empty stretch of road ahead so you do 80 in a 55 mph zone and there’s a cop hidden behind that sign up ahead, you may very well get a ticket. And so on.

Gators are what they are, and what they are is a rather timid reptile that is perfectly happy to stay around his watery, weedy habitat while staying as far away from humans as he can. Oh, he may become belligerent if a human threatens him, or if he has dinner lined up and some human tries to take it away from him, but blaming the gator in a case like that makes about as much sense as blaming the road for your speeding ticket or blaming the sun for your sunburn.

People can be protected from their own stupidity for only so long. Maybe it’s time to take a little responsibility for what we do.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

I've been here for almost eleven years. I also lived in Florida for five years back in the eighties. I've never seen an alligator outside of a pond or lying on the edge of a pond. I've heard three stories where one was spotted walking down a street or in someone's back yard. I saw one story where one was on someone's front porch at night.

Alligators are not aggressive unless they are threatened. They eat about once every one to three weeks. They spend most of their lives at the bottom of ponds, lakes and rivers. Generally if you approach and alligator, they will jump into the water.

I've heard of two or three instances in the Villages where one attacked a small dog. Usually it was when the dog owner was walking their pet along the edge of a pond.

Also in the sixteen years that I've lived in Florida, I've seen a few venomous snakes. Mostly water moccasins in a pond on a golf course where I used to work. I occasionally see black racer snakes which are harmless and run away when approached.

In general, alligators and snakes are not a problem. You should be aware of where they are when close to ponds.

We also have pygmy rattle snakes down here. I've never seen one but I make sure that I have a club with me when going into native areas on a golf course.

[joelfmi]

Absolutely wild alligators that can move around without being fenced in is to me a major problem and should be addressed before I will purchase a home there.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by joelfmi

Absolutely wild alligators that can move around without being fenced in is to me a major problem and should be addressed before I will purchase a home there.

Wild alligators are a fact of life in Florida. If you see water, there are alligators in it. People have been living in Florida for hundreds of years and have moved here in droves since the 1950s.

It's not a problem and it will never be addressed so I assume that you'l never move here.

[Kenswing]

Originally Posted by joelfmi

Absolutely wild alligators that can move around without being fenced in is to me a major problem and should be addressed before I will purchase a home there.

As if you really ever planned on purchasing a house here.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by joelfmi

Absolutely wild alligators that can move around without being fenced in is to me a major problem and should be addressed before I will purchase a home there.

Just a foot note to all the other things you hate about The Villages.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

I've been here for almost eleven years. I also lived in Florida for five years back in the eighties. I've never seen an alligator outside of a pond or lying on the edge of a pond. I've heard three stories where one was spotted walking down a street or in someone's back yard. I saw one story where one was on someone's front porch at night.

Alligators are not aggressive unless they are threatened. They eat about once every one to three weeks. They spend most of their lives at the bottom of ponds, lakes and rivers. Generally if you approach and alligator, they will jump into the water.

I've heard of two or three instances in the Villages where one attacked a small dog. Usually it was when the dog owner was walking their pet along the edge of a pond.

Also in the sixteen years that I've lived in Florida, I've seen a few venomous snakes. Mostly water moccasins in a pond on a golf course where I used to work. I occasionally see black racer snakes which are harmless and run away when approached.

In general, alligators and snakes are not a problem. You should be aware of where they are when close to ponds.

We also have pygmy rattle snakes down here. I've never seen one but I make sure that I have a club with me when going into native areas on a golf course.

Well, paragraph one said "saw a story" like maybe (?) it was some kind of lie. Those are MUCH more than just a story - there are 2 different pictures of Gators perched on front porches in THIS VERY thread. And I believe that there was an instance recently in Tampa where several BIG Gators crossed a busy highway.
......They are prehistoric and have pea brains and have no, ZERO fear of humans. As a matter of fact when I lived in the south center of Fl. often in BIG thunderstorms I and MANY other people would hit a gator on a state highway. I almost lost control of the car after hitting a 4 footer and it was NOT dead, it slithered away. You almost never see a dead on on the side of the road - but I have seen just about EVERY animal on the side of the road. I once saw a 1/2 alive Golden Eagle on the side of a road that had gotten hit by an 18-wheeler. He was getting blown around every time a truck passed by the wind, but it could not fly away. I stopped and pulled him (or her) back from the road. I put on welders gloves and used vice-grips to hold onto his claws as I pulled.
........Strangely, it had one good eye and one busted eye and as I pulled.... its head turned over and its good eye looked right into my eyes .......and IT DIED. Very freaky.....I said earlier that I have NOT lead a sheltered life.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

I've been here for almost eleven years. I also lived in Florida for five years back in the eighties. I've never seen an alligator outside of a pond or lying on the edge of a pond. I've heard three stories where one was spotted walking down a street or in someone's back yard. I saw one story where one was on someone's front porch at night.

Alligators are not aggressive unless they are threatened. They eat about once every one to three weeks. They spend most of their lives at the bottom of ponds, lakes and rivers. Generally if you approach and alligator, they will jump into the water.

I've heard of two or three instances in the Villages where one attacked a small dog. Usually it was when the dog owner was walking their pet along the edge of a pond.

Also in the sixteen years that I've lived in Florida, I've seen a few venomous snakes. Mostly water moccasins in a pond on a golf course where I used to work. I occasionally see black racer snakes which are harmless and run away when approached.

In general, alligators and snakes are not a problem. You should be aware of where they are when close to ponds.

We also have pygmy rattle snakes down here. I've never seen one but I make sure that I have a club with me when going into native areas on a golf course.

Paragraph 2 - Gators are not aggressive ....etc, etc. WELL, actually the opposite is true. Like I have said previously......try walking through Gator infested swamp water at midnight.......I have.
.......Gators are SO AGGRESSIVE that they come out of their egg snapping at everything and anything in sight. Just ask a gator expert or try YouTube.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by coffeebean

My main concern with gators is that I work in my yard. I'm on my hands and knees or cleaning out foliage lots of times and would worry that a gator just may come up from behind me. It's hard to "be aware of your surroundings" when you are knee deep in yard work.

Keep a bang stick around for self defense - just pop it in the back of the head or between the eyes ;-)

[https://youtube.com/watch?v=dSewlCwE...SIkaIECMiOmarE