There are alligators in the southern and coastal parts of North Carolina too.
There are alligators in Columbia SC, even, which is in the middle of the state! There’s one that hangs out at the canal, downtown! (I used to run there a lot and always looked for it and was so pissed at my husband when he went with me one time and saw it, in the river though.)
They’re in North Carolina as well, including one wholikes to hang out by the Battleship North Carolina. (He wasn’t there the day I visited though. Not complaining.)
I’m starting to think that Florida is North America’s Australia. Everything down there wants to eat you.
Now, now - there are no documented reports of the invasive pythons and anacondas ever eating a human being…
Yet.
Gators are dangerous but saltwater crocs are much worse .
Steve Irwin primarily worked with crocs at his zoo and on his show Croc Hunter. The zoo had a few Gators and it was a night/day difference. American Gators were much slower and seemed clumsy compared to a salt water Croc. The crocs always lunged at the man and not the chicken during the zoo’s feeding demos.
Hi
Terrible tragedy for this family. Apparently the child was playing at the edge of the water. That’s where Gators hide and stalk their prey. Waiting for a deer or other animal to come for a drink of water. Thankfully we don’t lose a lot of people in the US.
They do. They spend a lot of time and money trapping alligators in the resort lakes and re-homing them out to the unpopulated areas on property. But there are lots of gators, and lots of water for them to move in - and they can cross dry land and roads if they want to.
Its made worse by people FEEDING the darn things. “Here you adorable prehistoric predator, have some hot dog.” There was a gator in the Yacht and Beach Club canal that they re-homed at least half a dozen times.
A few years ago a little boy was poking around in the bushes and got bitten by a poisonous snake.
Or shoot you.
It was Nile crocodiles, actually. That will likely keep alligator numbers down a little.
Poor family. It doesn’t do to be complacent around wildlife.
Damn. You’d think if Disney is fully aware gators are in the lakes to the point where they have to rehome them, they wouldn’t build artificial beaches for the use of hotel guests right on those same lakes.
They already killed 4 Gators this morning. How many more random gators will they kill looking for this child?
The kid could be inside any gator in that lake. I hope they don’t wipe out the entire population over this attack. This was tragic but it’s also an isolated incident.
It’s a lake that guests at their resort have full access to. I think removing all the gators in it is a wise move.
I completely agree with your sympathy, but it’s one more case of “It must be safe, it’s Disney | a national park | a crowded beach | just a baby | fenced | America, dammit! and I’m watching my kids, what kind of a parent do you think I am?”
sigh There’s enough tragedy without the avoidable kind.
How would they even get there? I’m assuming this is some man-made body of water, or partially man-made. They’d have done a lot of construction in and around the lake when they built the resort. After its done, how would gators even get there? Unless its connected to a wild body of water?
Gators can walk on land. And it was mentioned upthread(ivylass) that there are canals connected to the lake.
This is scary: There is an evening show featuring the ship and at one point, they set off an explosive device in the water simulating where the ship took a torpedo once. Last time I was there, about five minutes before the BOOM, you could see the gator high-tailing it away from the ship. Did the gator understand the spiel and know when the BANG was coming? Wouldn’t surprise me.
Do alligators secure their captured prey underwater ('til it softens up)? If so, they may have already caught the perp.
Florida residents are always finding gators in their swimming pools, no matter how tall or how well secured the fence.
The sheriff just said they’ve switched from a “rescue” to a “recovery” search.
The last time a wild animal snatced a small child there was considerable outrage on this board. I guess I’m just a cynic, but after 15 hours, where’s the outrage here? Where’s the claims of criminal negligence by the parents for letting their child get away? Where are the cries to vclose down Disney because they didn’t build a good enough fence to keep the child out of water? Most of all, where are the people
As a life long resident of the New Orleans area, we’ve learned that you must always assume there are alligators present in the water. Generally, adults have no reason for concern. Back when I used to water ski in the bayous around Lake Pontchartrain we’d see them all the time. I’ve even skied over them a time or two. At the golf course where I’m a member they regularly kill a couple of 12 footers every year, but it’s not long before there are new ones to take their place. Always be careful retrieving a ball next to the water.
Alligators compete for territory. They are extremely tenacious about migrating to new, hopefully gator-free, bodies of water.
Really, they are a great success story about bouncing back from endangered status. But they’ve transferred to nuisance status here in the low country.
The sheriff just said they’ve switched from a “rescue” to a “recovery” search.
The last time a wild animal snatched a small child there was considerable outrage on this board. I guess I’m just a cynic, but after 15 hours, where’s the outrage here? Where’s the call for criminal prosecution for the parents for letting their child get away? Where are the cries to close down Disney because they didn’t build a good enough fence to keep the child out of water? Most of all, where are the people claiming that an alligator is more deserving of saving than a human child? (Well, that particular poster was banned, but I’m sure there are others.)