# I hate to ask, but New Orleans - and alligators? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 2, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703 "2005-09-02T04:37:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/1 "2005-09-02T04:37:34Z")
I’m almost afraid to ask, but isn’t New Orleans essentially now a big bayou? with lots of people wading around in it? Is there a risk that the gators might start turning up on the streets of New Orleans? :eek: :eek: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kyle\_Rayner1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58f4c7/32.png) [@Kyle\_Rayner1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyle_Rayner1)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/2 "2005-09-02T04:40:24Z")
Gators could go onto the streets but I think they mostly stick to the water. I think the real problem is the mosquitoes they’re far more dnagerous than gators with the disease they spread. Hell, they’re the most dangerous animal/insect on the planet and nature just gave them the perfect breeding ground in New Orleans. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/3 "2005-09-02T04:45:03Z")
oops - this was supposed to be in GQ. sorry. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/4 "2005-09-02T05:18:19Z")
Could an alligator live in a lake of sewage and toxic waste? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/5 "2005-09-02T06:33:28Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Could an alligator live in a lake of sewage and toxic waste? Maybe they’re New York alligators. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/6 "2005-09-02T06:35:16Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Maybe they’re New York alligators. Hey! Youse come over here, step into a Nu Yawk sewuh and say dat! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/7 "2005-09-02T07:02:08Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Could an alligator live in a lake of sewage and toxic waste? Well, alligators breath air, not water and they’re big animals with ( I think ) thick skin. I doubt it would be healthy but they might last quite some time before getting too sick to be dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/8 "2005-09-02T07:11:31Z")
Sure, but they probably swallow a lot of water in the course of eating, or because, you know, they’re thirsty. They would most likely stay away from befouled water if possible. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/9 "2005-09-02T07:51:10Z")
It would take a fair bit to kill a 'gator. We’ve got a seven-footer at work amd trust me, she’s tough! Her skin is very thick. I’ve seen her defecate in her water and then climb in quite happily. Of course we try to keep it clean, but it’s a big job to drain. (She’s got a big plastic pond and a land area.) I think the alligaters will be around for quite some time. They like carrion too. Judging by Sheba, even a little one could do a lot of damage to a person. Heck, a two foot Caiman bit right through my boss’s finger. I do believe the threat from mosquitos is worse though, as Karl Raynor1 said. They carry everything from West Nile to Malaria. For that matter, a simple bite, scratched and infected, under the circumstances could cause a lot of trouble. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/10 "2005-09-02T08:04:56Z")
> [@zoogirl](#): > > It would take a fair bit to kill a 'gator. We’ve got a seven-footer at work amd trust me, she’s tough! Her skin is very thick. I’ve seen her defecate in her water and then climb in quite happily. Of course we try to keep it clean, but it’s a big job to drain. (She’s got a big plastic pond and a land area.) I think the alligaters will be around for quite some time. They like carrion too. Bacteria that the gator evolved to deal with is one thing, industrial waste is another. There’s bound to be a lot of oil, gasoline, cleaning chemicals, and who knows what else. Do you happen to know how resistant gators are to poisons? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/11 "2005-09-02T08:27:16Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > Bacteria that the gator evolved to deal with is one thing, industrial waste is another. There’s bound to be a lot of oil, gasoline, cleaning chemicals, and who knows what else. Do you happen to know how resistant gators are to poisons? If, as per the OP, the gators are sharing the water with the humans, do you suspect they would be _less_ resistant to the poisons? My money’s on the gators. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/12 "2005-09-02T08:29:04Z")
Or to put it another way, if folks is wadin’ around in water that is toxic to alligators, they have worse things to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/13 "2005-09-02T08:31:53Z")
Touche. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/14 "2005-09-02T10:57:38Z")
Gators would probably survive. The toxic water and chemicals won’t directly kill them, but affect their reproductive ability in future years. I used to work with folks at the University of Florida who studied the gators that lived in the contaminated lakes of the sunshine state, and compared their hormone levels to those living in cleaner areas and then relate that to their reproductive success (or lack of it). There were still big gators at the contaminated lakes, but they just had a harder time making baby gators. ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/15 "2005-09-02T11:47:15Z")
Maybe we should evacuate the gators? There are people donating money and going down to NO to save and aid pets instead of humans. Why not also save the gators? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/16 "2005-09-02T12:24:05Z")
**Bull** , apparently you didn’t see my post in the other thread. So I’ll restate. Everything you’ve said is true. We are horrible, selfish people here; disgraces to humanity, all of us. **So stop hanging around with people who aren’t worth your time.** ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/17 "2005-09-02T12:32:58Z")
I’ve not heard much about gators, but fire ants and water moccasins are apparently a concern. ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/18 "2005-09-02T13:27:25Z")
[Moderator Hat ON] To GQ. Unregistered Bull, we’ve heard enough on your particular beef, kindly stick to the threads about it specifically. [Moderator Hat OFF] ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/19 "2005-09-02T13:39:21Z")
There are reports of dead alligators this morning: > [@](#): > > “We saw dead alligators,” said James Swanson, a rescue crew member trained as a swimmer. “We saw four of them, belly up. If the alligators can’t survive in their own waters, you know it was bad.” From this site: [http://news.yahoo.com/s/chitribts/20050902/ts\_chicagotrib/navypilotsaysalotofpeoplestilltrapped](http://news.yahoo.com/s/chitribts/20050902/ts_chicagotrib/navypilotsaysalotofpeoplestilltrapped) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703/20 "2005-09-02T14:15:49Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > Bacteria that the gator evolved to deal with is one thing, industrial waste is another. There’s bound to be a lot of oil, gasoline, cleaning chemicals, and who knows what else. Do you happen to know how resistant gators are to poisons? I think the most serious problem for any alligator in New Orleans might be the brackish water which as I understand it is what Lake Pontchartrain is composed of and where the flooding has originated from. [The American alligator](http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/brittoncrocs/csp_amis.htm) > [@](#): > > They can tolerate a reasonable degree of salinity for short periods of time, being occasionally found in brackish water around mangrove swamps, although they lack the buccal salt-secreting glands present in crocodiles [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-but-new-orleans-and-alligators/319703.md?page=2)