i’m going to try to post an email photo sent to me of a gator swimming in Louisiana with a full size deer in his/her mouth - think i’ll stay a tad north !!
hummm - don’t know how to do this - -
It was already posted a while back -NM
bingo !
thanks - same photos - still think i’ll stay in cape cod bay !!
Gator brains
are so small that they don’t realize they’re bigger and stronger than you, and actually try to run away when you approach. I’ve had more than I can count rush under my boat from their hidden spot in the grass as I paddle by, fleeing from my not so big bad self.
That’s wild gators who are not protecting their eggs. Mamas with nests and gators whom ignorant people have stupidly fed have no fear of humans. The former will give you fair warning to stay away, and the latter unfortunately must be “harvested.” The safe thing is just to respect them and give them a wide berth if you spot them. Most of the places I paddle are chock-full of gators, and if I don’t bother them, they don’t bother me.
My wife worries about gators in Florida
when I am out in my kayak. I tell her that I am safer in my kayak in Florida than in my car driving 40,000 miles a year
Very true, also
I’d much rather be around gators than drunken bass boaters or crazy jet skiers.
probably true, but
you can’t eskimo roll a car -
But some try
I bet
that deer was already dead, hit by a car or something. Gators are opportunists. In Florida I kayak with them all the time. Just no reason to be afraid, only respectful. I wonder if anyone in a kayak has ever been bitten??? Any stories floating around out there.
respect
I’ve only come across a couple of small ones in the Okeefenokee and on the Congaree, but I agree that it seems if you leave them alone, they’ll do the same.
The few times I did come close to them, I didn’t even realize it until they were making best possible speed away from me. (I guess I should be paying better attention.)
Earlier post
I live and paddle in South Florida and posted on an earlier thread about my experience with ‘gators.
I guess a large alligator could grab an adult deer but I doubt that happens often.
Since a mature alligator’s worst enemy is another alligator I’ve always felt that I,in my 17’ kayak appear to him as his worst nightmare-a 17’ alligator. In the wild they always run. Not that I’m not cautious as that walnut brain cannot always be expected to make the right decision.
I’m run into them, surprised them, paddled over them and never felt threatened except at boat ramps and other areas where they have lost their fear of us. They, along with the bird life, fish and peace and quiet are why we paddle out there.
When people ask me about the dangers of the wild I always tell them the most dangerous part of the trip was the drive out there on the interstate.
Just my thougts.