Kind of difficult to have yer kids respect all these creatures if your kids get killed by some of these oversized creatures that turn aggressive.
Not going to happen, bud, we’re teaching our kiddos to stay away from gators. We’re in a field of concrete, so that won’t be difficult.
Why is everyone so hostile in the evening? JC on a sidecar.
Oversized? By what criteria, yours? A little boy’s? A dog’s?
And agressive, wow that’s a shock!
Nope. They decided to kill all large gators on the river stretch because the boy was killed, hoping they would catch the right one. The article doesn’t give any indication this is usualy done.
I do not think 7 animals out of a million means a lot. I oppose this on principle. Just like I don’t think throwing a cigarette butt on the floor means a lot, but I never do it out of principle.
Okay, enough about the gator and the child. Did anyone else notice Ben neatly summing up the US’s current foreign policy? He’s not Wildest Bill, he’s George W!!!
RRUUUNNNNNNN!!!
Sorry, I need to clarify something. I oppose it on principle for the reasons I stated before, not because A BOOT-SKINNED VERMIN IS MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU THAN A SWEET INNOCENT LITTLE BOY, OH MY GOD!!!
Ahem… Thanks.
The fact that we are posting here, while maybe not proving Humans are at the top of the evolutionary ladder, certainly indicates that we are different from every other species on the planet. In that way we are special, or unique. Our uniqueness is more important than that of all the Alligators, even if it is one person out of 6 billion. An Alligator is the same as a shark is the same as a wolf is the same as a spider. They are predators and there are lots of them. They are similar in their actions. They hunt, they eat, they breed. That one kid could well have found a way for humans and predators to co-exist peacefully. It is guaranteed that the Alligator never would have.
Wihout getting into my feelings on the killing seven aligators vs. one boy getting killed (which is tragic), I just have one thing to say…
You can’t childproof the world.
Thinning of the herd.
It wouldn’t surprise me to learn the alligators and sharks and wolves and spiders see us in the same way.
Oversized by FL law, nitwit. Had you read the thread, you would have noticed this cite which someone posted on page 2.
http://www.floridaconservation.org/whatsnew/region03/gatoraware-sw.html
Do you honestly believe that killing 6 innocent alligators that are large enough to be aggressive or nuisances is NOT worth capturing an aggressive alligator which could potentially harm children?
So? That would only show that we are exhibiting survival instincts, the same ones they exhibit.
Thank you for being civil. That’s not snarkiness; I really mean it. And you’re right, deep down I do feel bad for the kid, and especially for his parents. But all the feeling bad in the world will not change the fact that sometimes terrible things happen, and sometimes people bring it on themselves. I reserve the right to make my own decisions about who I cry for. This kid isn’t one of them, and the fact that more lives must be lost because of his actions is not helping me feel any more sympathy for him.
I understand your being upset over the 11-year-old in the ER. As a doctor or nurse, I’m sure such a death would affect you in a way somewhat different from the average person. And death is tragic, always, and doubly so for one so young. But to me the greatest tragedy of all is that both boys were completely and solely responsible for their deaths. I feel more pity for those
whose deaths were caused by circumstances beyond their control. Surely in your line of work you’ve seen enough of these? Forgive me if my pity does not extend to those who by recklessness and stupidity bring about their own demise, however untimely.
I can speak only for myself, but to me a life is a life, and I’m supposed to help save that life regardless how it came to me. I’m neither a doctor or a nurse. I work as a respiratory therapist, but I’m a first responder, and so I was called in to work on the little boy in my post.
That being said, I’m human too, and so I may say something like, “My God, kid! What were you thinking?!”
And that having been said…:), the loss of a child always affects me more deeply than the loss of an older person. Like I said, I’m human too and I think a part of me knows the child may have died as the result of a lack of judgement. An older person
should know to stop and think about the consequences.
I hope this makes some kind of sense. I’m sorry the little boy died. I agree it was a stupid senseless death, and I understand why you feel the way you do. And thank you for being civil to me, ratty.
Quasi
…I see a good opportunity for wrongful death lawsuits!
For example: was this lake/pond/canal PROPERLY FENCED OFF? Were there CLEAR, READABLE WARNING SIGNS?
Did the owner odf the property take ALL REASONABLE CARE to prevent alligators from entering the property?
DID The Florida Fish and Game department PROPERLY RESTRAIN the said alligators?
If the owner of the property FAILED to warn swimmers that the area was unsafe, shouldn’t he be liable for the boy’s death?
This one ought te be worth $5-10 million…I’ve got to catch a plane to Florida!
Big gators are not always dangerous. In fact, a proper display of stomping combined with arm waving or golf club swinging will run them off over 90% of the time (please note, this is not an indemnification for anyone stupidly chasing gators with ill-suited implements). That’s why it’s unfortunate to have to kill so many to make sure that they get the right one or ones. If you have lived in the state long enough you’ve seen a big gator–or many–that suns itself harmlessly near dozens of homes.
Killing even a dozen gators is not a horrible thing (in a macro sense) when you consider the overall alligator population in the state and the area. In my subdivision I know of at least a dozen alligators, mostly small, in the lakes around here. There will be a dozen dozen little ones in a few months. The ones that survive… These are new lakes, created or expanded from tiny existing ones within the last few years. They will support even more gators as time goes on.
Lawsuit? Maybe knowledge of “nuisance” gators creates a duty. Failure to warn? It might work.
Out of curiosity (I’m not from Florida) – is there enough swampland territory left for the alligators in the state? If yes, how do the gators wander into rural areas? Simply a question, I apologize if it has already been answered in this thread.
No problem, Blonde. It’s a good question without a simple answer. Wetlands in Florida have decreased overall over time. In some cases wetlands have been created, restored, or preserved. It depends on how you ask the question.
The gators wander into, reside in, urban areas in many cases. A retention pond is more than enough for a few baby gators up to the smaller variety. Alligators make great neighbors, IMO. Keeps me and my dogs on our toes. 
Seriously though, the lake system is almost interlocking around here. It’s alligator heaven.
The most telling thing is the overall counts of alligator populations. They just keep going up. Alligator harvesting is, as many people have noted, fairly routine. Fortunately small children being killed is not routine. Therefore, mass killings of wild gators are rare.
Thanks, Beagle. I guess in a perfect world we’d all live as one (cue music). It’s good to hear gators aren’t endangered – too many other species are. As a parent, I don’t want to have to show my kids a picture in a book, of a creature we wiped off the face of the planet.
Blone, I don’t know if anyone ever answered you…but yes, there is a Dallas, GA.
There is also a Rome, GA, Athens, GA and “Houston” County GA. (Pronouced HOUSE TON.)
~J
Please come OUT of character once in a while, sweetie.