More horrible news from the Orlando area. A family from Nebraska was staying at a Disney resort hotel and they were “relaxing on the shoreline when the alligator attacked the boy. The father entered the water and tried to grab the child from the gator, but was not successful.”
They have not found the boy or the alligator.
My god, to lose a young child is heartbreaking, but to lose one in this manner must be beyond horrific.
Agreed. The worst thing in the world is for a parent to lose a child. The absolute horror they must be experiencing, losing their child to an animal attack is just incomprehensible.
What a nightmare for the parents. But why are there no signs warning of alligators?
According to the news here in Aus, there were warnings not to SWIM in the lagoon, but no warnings about being on the shoreline.
:dubious:
I’ve heard Disney has really good lawyers. Accounts I’ve read say if someone gets hurt on a ride, attendants will appear sympathetic, while in reality they’re trying to finagle the victim into admitting maybe they did something they weren’t supposed to. Just maybe. Arms outside the ride, anything. Then the lawyers will use their words against them if the possibility of litigation arises. I wonder if those “No Swimming” signs could be used to defend Disney in this case.
(reported)
A favorite photograph I have is a staged shot of my kids when they were 5 and 9, wearing bathing suits, dripping wet, and mugging it up for the camera. Behind them is a sign warning of alligators. (IIRC it was along the Suwanee River)
Probably for the same reason there are no signs warning of tornadoes in Oklahoma - it’s a local hazard that locals are so familar with they don’t need to be warned. And really, that’s sort of how I’m looking at this. It seems Floridians typically consider the possibility of giant, flesh-eating lizards in any body of water in their state, just as folks in the Midwest deal with tornadoes and Californians deal with earthquakes. Some of us from out of state get the impression that alligators are sort of the equivalent of squirrels, they’re all over the place down there.
That said - I would argue that in areas with very heavy tourist numbers, like Disney World and the other big theme parks, it might be a good idea to post signs near open bodies of water saying “Warning: beware of alligators”.
Yes. As I said, I’m wondering if the locals are so used to the hazard they forget to warn visitors about them.
When I went to Florida I was told that giant, flesh-eating lizards could be in ANY body of water in the state and to be cautious, and that the damn things could even be found wandering around backyards and such so be cautious and keep your distance. I didn’t see signs everywhere saying ALLIGATORS COULD BE ANYWHERE.
For that matter, when I want to Arizona I was repeatedly cautioned about keeping hydrated and NEVER go on even a short hike without carrying water with me because, you know, Phoenix really is in a desert area no matter how civilized and urban it appears. I was also told to check my shoes every morning for scorpions, even in a nice, clean, modern hotel. But there weren’t signs everywhere saying DRINK LOTS OF WATER and CHECK YOUR SHOES FOR SCORPIONS.
When I visited in-laws in Appalachia I was repeatedly cautioned about bears which I didn’t take seriously until my father-in-law showed me the paw-prints in his backyard. But there weren’t signs everywhere saying WATCH OUT FOR BEARS. (The local parks did have signs saying only put your garbage in the bear-proof trash containers.)
I hope if I ever go to Australia the locals will kindly remind me to be on the look out for such famous denizens as funnel-web spiders, salt-water crocs, sharks, and box jellyfish as appropriate to whatever locale I find myself in. Also remind me to drink lots of water i the desert areas, of which I hear you have many. In return, should you ever come visit me here in Indiana I will caution you about our winter weather, extreme winds, and tornado safety (also - those sirens at 12 noon every Saturday are for testing the weather system, they’re not for an air raid. Yes, I had to explain that to a refugee from the Middle East a few months ago, poor lady was terrified. I associate sirens with bad weather, she associates them with bombs falling out of the sky. Very different local hazards). See, that’s the problem with tourists, they’re sort of ignorant of local hazards and sometimes need frequent reminders of local hazards that aren’t always visible but still real.
That said, it probably wouldn’t hurt if Disney made regular checks of bodies of water on their property for giant lizards and had procedures for removing the animals. Even if they did all that, though, it would not eliminate the danger entirely because alligators are a common wild animal in the area and they do move around on their own.
As of this morning apparently four alligators have been removed from that body of water but no sign of the boy, yet. There are probably more alligators still in there. Which, I understand, is not unusual for an open body of water in Florida.
This occurred right outside the Grand Floridian, Disney’s most expensive resort hotel. I doubt they “forgot” to warn people that there might be alligators. More likely they didn’t want to scare people into thinking there may be gators right next to the room they’re paying $450/night for, and hoped the “No Swimming” signs were enough.
There will be hundreds in a lake that size. I’m in the Charleston area of South Carolina and the rule here is ‘it’s not if, it’s how big’ for any body of water. My development has a 20 acre lake and our HOA just let us know that the wildlife guys say there’s at least 50 present.
These are not good times for the Orlando Convention and Visitors Bureau.
A husband of a co-worker works at Disney and you’re right…they don’t want to scare the guests. The issue for me is “no swimming” may mean to a parent that it’s okay to wade a bit in the shallow part of the lake.
It’s a man made lake, but it’s connected to canals, so that’s how the gators got in. Last I heard they’ve already killed four gators but haven’t found the one that grabbed the child.
Yeah, we’re not having a good week down here. 
You have alligators in South Carolina? :eek: I did not know that…
>sigh< Og forbid we scare the tourists by reminding them of local hazards… :rolleyes:
… and I think we all know that we aren’t going to find the child alive and intact. I do feel bad for the parents. Losing a child is always horrible, seeing your child attacked by a wild predator and dragged off is the stuff of nightmares.
I’m sorry to hear about all the troubles in Orlando.
Despite my dislike of heat, humidity, intense sunlight, bugs, and giant flesh-eating lizards when I have had occasion to go to Orlando I still enjoyed myself and the locals are truly hospitable. I hope things settle down and get back to normal for all of you soon.
Someone should check on Orlando Bloom.
“No swimming” is not enough to tell vacationers what those of us who were raised here know by nature: the shoreline is the equivalent of a grocery store to alligators. Any animal that comes into contact with the water is potential gator food.
Unless a body of water in Florida is specifically cleared for human use, stay out of the water. Wading is no safer than swimming if a gator is hungry.
We lived on a spring-fed man-made lake a bit south of Jacksonville. It spilled into Black Creek which is well-known for having gators. At least one time, a gator came up over the dam from the creek to the lake. It didn’t take long for all the neighbors on the water to tell each other to keep dogs out of the back yards. It was winter, so no worries about kids swimming.
I remember seeing a boat full of state wildlife guys out there at night with spotlights - they managed to catch the gator and return it to the creek, and life went on. But in the meantime, we kept a close watch on our dog. Oh yeah, and our daughter, too…
I’m so glad we moved north.
I visited Brazos Bend State Park in Texas a couple of years ago. They had signs up warning visitors about the alligators and telling people what specific situations were dangerous.
You mean the government did something better than private industry? :LOL: [/sarcasm]
I predict a record-setting lawsuit judgment over this.
Wasn’t there a report of Australian crocs in Florida recently? (Escaped pets or smuggled imports, I assume.) Just when you think a situation can’t get worse…