And you go in the water, there is a chance there is an alligator in it. Possibly more than one. Unless the water is salty, then there will be sharks.
Note that this caution holds for non-residents as well.
Just because there is not a sign does not mean there cannot be gators. Alligators cannot read. It just means that there is not a sign.
The alligators and sharks are beautiful animals. Normally they won’t bother you. But they are also kind of stupid, so sometimes they’ll think you’ll make a tasty snack. It might be best to avoid their habitat if you don’t want to take that risk.
I’m fairly sure there was another last year. One article mentioned that sometimes gator deaths are unconfirmed and hence unrecorded. Problem is proving the person was alive when the gator took them. In the case of one of the deaths this weekend the autoposy showed blood clots that indicate she was alive when taken. FWIW the woman in question was a crack user and a pipe and baggie with crack were found nearby. Thinking is she got stoned, rolled into the canal, then got munched on.
Also, not mentioned previously, the canal in question is in the neighborhood I used to live in, possibly one that ran behind our apartment.
I think Campbell was a “she”. I believe all three people killed his past week were females. Recently another elderly woman was attacked but fended off the animal.
My family and I have canoed Juniper Run many times, the last time being about three weeks ago. Every time we go, we pass by a giant gator sunning himself on the bank. I mean, we are maybe fifteen feet away from this monster, and he never moves, which is fortunate, because if he did I’d shit myself. It’s the big thrill of the trip, though I’ve never understood why the rangers seem so blase’ about him. I guess we’ll all be taking him a bit more seriously from now on.
We usually take two canoes, one with me, my husband, and the youngest kid; the other with the three teenagers. Once the teenagers got their canoe stuck in the middle of the run and my husband swam back to help them. I was pretty upset with him at the time…I think I’ll go bitch about it again!
Cockroaches? Bah. As long as the place is clean, you shouldn’t have any problems.
If you leave them alone they’ll generally leave you alone. If you were boating in the middle of the day, Mr. Al E. Gator was probably too sleepy from his snooze in the sun to pay you mind.
The one last year wasn’t a fatality, it was a guy in my hometown (my mom knows him) who got his arm ripped off. And it’s hard to have a ton of sympathy for him either, he was weeding a pond at the local gardens, knew the gator was there, and then accidentally stepped on him. :eek: So add weeding next to gators as an activity to avoid.
