# Dumb kids in my area decide to play tug of war with a big gator **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 12, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-kids-in-my-area-decide-to-play-tug-of-war-with-a-big-gator/506166 "2009-08-12T13:00:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-kids-in-my-area-decide-to-play-tug-of-war-with-a-big-gator/506166/1 "2009-08-12T13:00:21Z")
[Fortunately, no one got hurt. Here’s the story](http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/article1026869.ece) (with a pic or two): > [@](#): > > This is the story of the one that got away. > > Which is fortunate for the group of Harbordale kids who decided to play tug-of-war with a 10-foot alligator Tuesday. > > The kids, who had been fishing for crabs, tied a raw chicken to a rope to lure a gator that was swimming in a canal. The idea worked almost too well: The gator chomped down on the chicken, then got its toothy snout ensnared in the rope. > > Not wanting to lose their rope, the kids hung on. The ensuing back-and-forth drew a large crowd, then the police, to their block. > > And what exactly would the kids have done had they somehow managed to drag that sharp-toothed, voracious — and apparently annoyed — behemoth out of a city canal and onto land? > > Well, aside from running away screaming, that is? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-kids-in-my-area-decide-to-play-tug-of-war-with-a-big-gator/506166/2 "2009-08-12T13:41:34Z")
Made handbags out of it? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-kids-in-my-area-decide-to-play-tug-of-war-with-a-big-gator/506166/3 "2009-08-12T13:42:46Z")
> [@](#): > > She estimated the kids were just 12- or 13-years-old, further proof that school cannot start soon enough. Word. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-kids-in-my-area-decide-to-play-tug-of-war-with-a-big-gator/506166/4 "2009-08-12T13:50:04Z")
Potential Darwin awardees in training. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-kids-in-my-area-decide-to-play-tug-of-war-with-a-big-gator/506166/5 "2009-08-12T14:53:46Z")
Well they couldn’t let the gator win. It might have gotten the idea that it was the Alpha. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-kids-in-my-area-decide-to-play-tug-of-war-with-a-big-gator/506166/6 "2009-08-12T15:06:09Z")
[Ace Rimmer might have some ideas.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKsjaOqDXgg&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-kids-in-my-area-decide-to-play-tug-of-war-with-a-big-gator/506166/7 "2009-08-12T15:10:12Z")
Those kids must’ve been FSU fans. Bad omen for those who hope for a three-peat? ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-kids-in-my-area-decide-to-play-tug-of-war-with-a-big-gator/506166/8 "2009-08-12T23:18:29Z")
Niiiiice. Making Floridians proud every day. Good job, kids. Next time don’t puss out so quickly. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-kids-in-my-area-decide-to-play-tug-of-war-with-a-big-gator/506166/9 "2009-08-13T01:13:06Z")
I remember going with my aunt to a Marine Land type place in Florida where we watched a man wrestle an alligator. His hand slipped and the gator chomped him, nipping a finger. He suddenly decided he wasn’t interested in wrestling the gator anymore and started to walk out of the arena with his finger bleeding. A kid asked him if it hurt and he snarled “What do you think?” My aunt, God rest her, started telling us that this was so much more exciting than just watching a guy wrestle an alligator.I, in my sweet innocent youth, realized it actually was. I learned a valuable leason that day though it’s been 33 years and I still have yet to come to grips with it.