gator!

[Terri Knoll]

we were out walking on this beautiful crisp day and came across this gator:
(neighbor kids were throwing rocks at it :basic04 )

Gator (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dEhFIfNMTs)

[Jim Franklin]

One good reason why I would never want to visit Florida.

[Dave McClung]

we were out walking on this beautiful crisp day and came across this gator:
(neighbor kids were throwing rocks at it :basic04 )

Gator (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dEhFIfNMTs)

Those neighbor kids need to know that the gator can run faster than they can.

I remember when I was fishing in Louisiana and a gator about that size came up and bumped the bottom of our boat. He was just letting us know we were in his territory. Beleive me, I kept my hands in the boat.

[Joel Merrill]

Those neighbor kids need to know that the gator can run faster than they can.

I remember when I was fishing in Louisiana and a gator about that size came up and bumped the bottom of our boat. He was just letting us know we were in his territory. Beleive me, I kept my hands in the boat.





I had heard that gators could run pretty fast on land but not being from the south, I didn't want to sound like a know-it-all. I've also read that they are not afraid of humans and they can be pretty sneaky when they are hunting. I wouldn't want my kids, or pets around them.

Joel

[Terri Knoll]

Those neighbor kids need to know that the gator can run faster than they can.

I remember when I was fishing in Louisiana and a gator about that size came up and bumped the bottom of our boat. He was just letting us know we were in his territory. Beleive me, I kept my hands in the boat.





in the video link in my post you can hear me warning the kids about how fast gators can run. They are so gorgeous to me (as are all creatures) and I am definately teaching my grands respect for these and other creatures.

blessings,
Terri

[Dennis M. Scott]

Inot being from the south, I didn't want to sound like a know-it-all.

Joel


I know a few people even from the South who don't want to sound like a know it all, and a whole lot from the North who persist in sounding just like one! :M)

[John Kennedy]

The most effective 'know it alls' are the ones who don't sound like they are.

[John Kennedy]

My dad, while fishing in the Okefenokee (sp?) Swamp on the GA-FL line, fell out of the boat while he was standing up casting. Remembering the several gators they had seen, the claimed he was back in the boat before he even got wet.

[Dave McClung]

I had heard that gators could run pretty fast on land but not being from the south, I didn't want to sound like a know-it-all. I've also read that they are not afraid of humans and they can be pretty sneaky when they are hunting. I wouldn't want my kids, or pets around them.

Joel

Gators don't normally bother humans, but most people who have lived in the south know to treat them with respect. When I was in high school, a woman in our community got between a gator and its babies. The gator was out of the water and chased her down. It seriously mauled her.

Gators have big teeth, but when attacking they typically use their tail. They can swing the big tail with enough power to knock a person down.

When I was in high school, my school was playing another school from Louisiana who's mascot was the gator. I was president of the DECA Club. We thought it would be great fun to build a homecoming float with a cage and a live gator. We built a cage made of chicken wire on the back of a flat bed trailer with a big sign saying "Cage the Gators." A local guy loaned us his pet 5' gator. Before he would let us take it, we had to demonstrate that we could handle him by wrestling the gator. We (more my friend than I) wrestled the gator, so the owner let us put it in the cage. Everything went fine until we were in the middle of town where there were crowds of people. The gator got upset and decided he wanted out. He started swinging is tail against the sides of the cage. After about three blows, our cage was nothing but splinters and twisted chicken wire. Suddenly I had visions of our mad gator outside the cage in the middle of town. We left the parade and got to a service station where we used a hose to water down the gator. He calmed down and we were able to safely get him back to his master. Until I saw this picture, I hadn't thought of that incident in a long time.

One thing you should know in case you ever need to wrestle a gator -- Gators have powerful jaws to clamp down, but have very little power when opening their mouth. So, if you can get it to close its mouth (without our arm being inside) you can hold the mouth closed with one hand. If you stradle the gator, like you were riding a horse, you can hold the mouth closed and he can't reach you with his tail. Hold on until someone arrives to put tape around the mouth. Even with his mouth taped, be careful to stay out of range of the tail.

[Dave McClung]

My dad, while fishing in the Okefenokee (sp?) Swamp on the GA-FL line, fell out of the boat while he was standing up casting. Remembering the several gators they had seen, the claimed he was back in the boat before he even got wet.

I have wade fished in several lakes where there were gators. I was a lot more afraid of the snakes than the gators.

[John Kennedy]

Your 'gator on the float' story reminded me of attempts by various Southwest Conference schools to steal other schools' mascots. There were several attempts to steal 'Bevo' (UT's longhorn). Knew some Ut frat boys who were kicked out for attempting to steal the Baylor bear.

One of the stories that went around was about the bear stealing attempt by several Aggies (Texas A&M). Now if you're acquainted with 'Aggie' stories you might discount the story (or parts of it).

However, having known some Aggies, parts of it have the ring of truth. It seems that, being fortified themselves with 'demon rum', they journeyed from College Station to Waco, and somehow managed to get the bear into the back of a station wagon. Given that the bear was relatively tame and being used to being led around at football games, this has some plausability. Reported they got about 3 or 4 blocks from the campus when the bear decided to start ripping the headliner out of the back and they simply abandoned the vehicle (bear inside) and called for a ride home.

[Dave McClung]

Your 'gator on the float' story reminded me of attempts by various Southwest Conference schools to steal other schools' mascots. There were several attempts to steal 'Bevo' (UT's longhorn). Knew some Ut frat boys who were kicked out for attempting to steal the Baylor bear.

One of the stories that went around was about the bear stealing attempt by several Aggies (Texas A&M). Now if you're acquainted with 'Aggie' stories you might discount the story (or parts of it).

However, having known some Aggies, parts of it have the ring of truth. It seems that, being fortified themselves with 'demon rum', they journeyed from College Station to Waco, and somehow managed to get the bear into the back of a station wagon. Given that the bear was relatively tame and being used to being led around at football games, this has some plausability. Reported they got about 3 or 4 blocks from the campus when the bear decided to start ripping the headliner out of the back and they simply abandoned the vehicle (bear inside) and called for a ride home.

That sounds plausable to me. The Aggies were always trying to steal our bear when I was a Baylor. The Bear cage wasn't very secure.

[Joel Merrill]

Gators don't normally bother humans, but most people who have lived in the south know to treat them with respect. When I was in high school, a woman in our community got between a gator and its babies. The gator was out of the water and chased her down. It seriously mauled her.

Gators have big teeth, but when attacking they typically use their tail. They can swing the big tail with enough power to knock a person down.

When I was in high school, my school was playing another school from Louisiana who's mascot was the gator. I was president of the DECA Club. We thought it would be great fun to build a homecoming float with a cage and a live gator. We built a cage made of chicken wire on the back of a flat bed trailer with a big sign saying "Cage the Gators." A local guy loaned us his pet 5' gator. Before he would let us take it, we had to demonstrate that we could handle him by wrestling the gator. We (more my friend than I) wrestled the gator, so the owner let us put it in the cage. Everything went fine until we were in the middle of town where there were crowds of people. The gator got upset and decided he wanted out. He started swinging is tail against the sides of the cage. After about three blows, our cage was nothing but splinters and twisted chicken wire. Suddenly I had visions of our mad gator outside the cage in the middle of town. We left the parade and got to a service station where we used a hose to water down the gator. He calmed down and we were able to safely get him back to his master. Until I saw this picture, I hadn't thought of that incident in a long time.

One thing you should know in case you ever need to wrestle a gator -- Gators have powerful jaws to clamp down, but have very little power when opening their mouth. So, if you can get it to close its mouth (without our arm being inside) you can hold the mouth closed with one hand. If you stradle the gator, like you were riding a horse, you can hold the mouth closed and he can't reach you with his tail. Hold on until someone arrives to put tape around the mouth. Even with his mouth taped, be careful to stay out of range of the tail.



I had a girl friend once who had lived in the south when she was in grade school. I don't remember many details but she got chased by a gator once. Fortunately, she wasn't far from a tree she could climb.

Joel