[PugMom]

it factored with us. i chose a home away from H20 not only due to gators/snakes, but also flooding concerns. now i know Village homes rarely flood out, but i'd still choose to be away from the waterside.

[snbrafford]

Originally Posted by FFlank

My wife and I just finished a lifestyle preview visit, and are planning on returning in a few months for a longer stay. I know that gators are a fact of life in TV, but we're not anxious to find one on our doorstep when going out to get the morning paper . When it comes time to pick a home location, is there a part of TV where a close encounter is less likely?

We have lived here 4+ years. A good piece of advice for ANYWHERE in FL is that if there is water, there is a gator. We have "ponds" close to us and have seen a gator more than once. We play golf and frequently see a gator in the water on along the water on the course. I've even had to bypass a hole because of a gator.

You just have to be aware. The further you are from water, the less likely you are to see one. The bigger the body of water, the bigger the gator. Don't walk along the ponds especially with you pet. If a golf ball goes in the water, think twice about retrieving it.

[airdote22]

Termites are to be more likely than gaters near water.

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by bonrich

And then there are the golfers. Yep, looking for that little white round thing in the water, not aware of anything else around you, who could be waiting for you to find that rare golf ball, one of a kind, my lucky golf ball, family treasure. Be aware of your surroundings!

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.

[kkingston57]

Originally Posted by JohnN

The closer to water, the better you'll find an alligator. But the chances are slim. However, don't be walking your dog near the water and be alert if you go there.

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

[WingedFoot78]

They caught a gator in NYC the other day. That's sort of north.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by fcgiii

We live on a large pond near lake Deaton. We have several alligators that frequent our pond. We have given them names. Sometimes they sun themselves on the banks around the pond. Most of the time they just slowly swim about. They don't bother anyone. The numerous fishermen that frequent the pond keep an eye out and move if they come near, which is rare. The only violence we have ever seen was when one caught a fish. They were here when the Villages was a dream and will be here when it decays into ruin.

Do.net fear the gators. Enjoy them.

Gators in ponds are fun to see. - the problem becomes when the Gator gets over 4 ft. The villages is a highly populated area with both humans and dogs. A person or even a medium-sized dog could POSSIBLY fight off a 4 ft alligator. But, IF the Villages BRASS allows gators bigger than 4 ft , they are just saying, "We don't mind LOSING a few dogs each year and maybe an arm or two".
........People can see LARGE gators at State and Federal wildlife areas or on a river canoe trip. Allowing BIG gators within the Village's boundaries is UNCONSIONABLE.
..........Maybe the residents would like The Villages to stock some nice, CUTE freshwater SHARKS (they exist) in our LAKES also!

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by airstreamingypsy

LOL, the posts get nuttier and nuttier...... the dead lady did the equivalent of crossing a freeway in the dark. "2AM to get a picture" who does that?

I didn't say the dead lady did that, for all I know it could have happened in the daylight. The point is that Gators are MUCH more aggressive at night than during the day.
........ Personally, I did get stuck in a situation where I HAD to walk out of a swamp at NIGHT through gator-infested
water. I said earlier that I have NOT led a sheltered life. And at night a gator makes a sound like ......if you can imagine a frog as big as a car!
Note ::::::: It DID happen in DAYLIGHT.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by PugMom

it factored with us. i chose a home away from H20 not only due to gators/snakes, but also flooding concerns. now i know Village homes rarely flood out, but i'd still choose to be away from the waterside.

That IS also good advice - that IS why you need to rent for 6 months before buying in order to get "the lay of the land".

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

Not a bad question., That's why I suggested to rent for about 6 months and check the financial channels to see what the predictions for a recession or downturn are.
....as you can see there are 2 schools of thought about GATORS. One is that they are cute pets that you can look at from a distance. The other school of thought IS a little darker and I think of it this way if Man could control lightning strikes, they would do so. Man can control alligators over 4 ft in densely populated areas like The Village Land. So I would advise that they DO control them. The local lady here is VERY DEAD because of a too BIG alligator. What is a human life worth compared with a "CUTE" Winston human killing machine.

A "local lady"? She lived 165 MILES away...

Facts Matter...

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

Gators in ponds are fun to see. - the problem becomes when the Gator gets over 4 ft. The villages is a highly populated area with both humans and dogs. A person or even a medium-sized dog could POSSIBLY fight off a 4 ft alligator. But, IF the Villages BRASS allows gators bigger than 4 ft , they are just saying, "We don't mind LOSING a few dogs each year and maybe an arm or two".
........People can see LARGE gators at State and Federal wildlife areas or on a river canoe trip. Allowing BIG gators within the Vialages boundaries is UNCONSIONABLE.
..........Maybe the residents would like The Villages to stock some nice, CUTE freshwater SHARKS (they exist) in our LAKES also!

Care to cite where you came up with that "4 ft" rule?

[JMintzer]

[Velvet]

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.

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.

[jimjamuser]

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.

Just guessing, but I would NOT want to depend on bear spray, which is like pepper spray. Alligators are prehistoric creatures with small brains and tough lungs. I would tend to think that it would be less effective on them. And they have double eyelids or some such things (for those that pick at every detail even when I am just guessing.)

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Altavia

Same here along with the other wildlife. The gaters are well fed, fat and happy with all the fish in the lakes.

Well, that was just NAMING the PROBLEM.......Gators HERE have grown too BIG.......so that now they can THREATEN dogs and people as we have seen with the 85-year-old lady that experienced the TERROR of a hideous DEATH. I saw the video of her violent DEATH. It was like she was attacked by a Rhino or a ROGUE elephant or a man-eating tiger in INDIA.
.......Does the Villages want to be like a 3rd world country like INDIA or AFRICA?
.......People can still watch gators under 4 ft and enjoy them - and probably more of them if the over 4 footers were "REMOVED". People would LOSE nothing and gain the confidence of NOT being charged by a prehistoric MINDLESS killing MACHINE.
.....Watch the video .......IF you DARE!