^^^ yeah, probably not :D I do carry a machete and a handgun in my PFD. Which is great, if you have time to react. But my recent close encounter was a case of being in the middle of the lake (where you would not expect to typically encounter a gator without seeing him first) and he popped his head up next to the yak with no warning. Pretty sure he thought the yak was a gator from afar and swam very fast underwater from shore to investigate.

Details were released on the fatal attack. The couple was in a 14-ft canoe in 2-1/2 feet of water and passed over and/or bumped the back of the gator who was just resting underwater. The 11-1/2 foot gator was startled and reacted defensively, knocking the 61-yr old woman into the water and killing her :(

.... my Dateline instincts cause me to wonder if they've completely ruled out the husband pushing the wife out of the boat? :cool:

While I know exactly where to go to see gators (Lake Alice, Paynes Prairie) I've not seen one while out and about on our local rivers or a few local ponds/lakes. I know they are there though....

In 1982, I bought two foot long caimen. They grew an inch a month and I had them for three years. Went from a 55 gal tank to a 100. When I got custody of my two young boys, I donated them to a licensed reptile raising guy.

They never, ever were friendly. Very protective of each other. I would let them loose in the house to roam around when no body but me there. Having to put them back in the tank was tough. The tail swinging was just about as bad as their teeth. Got a couple scars. Anything I put in the tank would get eaten as long as it was moving.

PSA (I'm pretty sure this applies to FL too)

<iframe width="720" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6S1OvxfQ98c" title="How to tell if alligators in the water in Louisiana" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Friendly, sure.
<iframe width="650" height="1200" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iqEoi4HPyGc" title="Big Al the 14ft gator. #louisiana #gator #swamp #airboat #airboattoursbyarthur" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Them folks down in Oz go about it a bit differently
<iframe width="720" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w1Lxf6gIz_U" title="Aussie smacks charging crocodile with frying pan | Yahoo Australia" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

>>> In 1982, I bought two foot long caimen. They grew an inch a month and I had them for three years. Went from a 55 gal tank to a 100. When I got custody of my two young boys, I donated them to a licensed reptile raising guy.

They never, ever were friendly. Very protective of each other. I would let them loose in the house to roam around when no body but me there. Having to put them back in the tank was tough. The tail swinging was just about as bad as their teeth. Got a couple scars. Anything I put in the tank would get eaten as long as it was moving.<<<

^^^ That's interesting. They do say even the small ones (2-3 footers) can be very dangerous. Although at least they're not going to pull you underwater in a death roll.

"if dat water wet, you got gators!" :D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1746644914.jpg

Yep, gotta be careful of the death roll!

<iframe width="550" height="1000" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rCfjSGARZAE" title="Baby Gator Death Rolling || ViralHog" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

2000-2004, I worked with a lot of folks from Louisiana. I love the accent, and something else that I noticed is that being funny seems to be a part of the culture. There were more funny folks in that group than in most groups, and the funny just popped out all of the time, usually very dry humor. I miss working with them.

Yep ... I'd get bigly fat LMAO ... I used to watch Justin Wilson a lot years ago....

How y'all are :)?

Sounds like a case of FA and FO!

At least the husband didn't do something stupid like jump in and try to save her!

<iframe width="720" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/09sAbZ1iNJk" title="Man saves puppy from alligator's jaw in Florida" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

^^^ Amazing how much effort that took to pull the jaws open on that little gator!

I would try to save my dog, for sure!

And then he got his hands stuck in there!

Yeah, that is one of the tricks with gators - all of their mouth muscles are geared towards biting down and they have minimal opening strength.

You can hold the mouth on a big 'un closed really easy, check the u toob vids and you'll see it is common to just hold 'em shut at the nose with one hand. Good luck prying it open if the gator wants it closed ....

Well, I'm happier than a buzzard on a gut truck!

"Friendly gators" and "harmless Pit Bulls" :rolleyes: