I don't know. Maybe because FL has a college team named after their Gators. Or more tourists who bring home stories of seeing a gator by the highway. On the way to Disney World. But you obviously do not watch "Swamp People" on History channel. They hunt alligators in LA and some in TX.
Do you watch SWAMP PEOPLE? It sounds like they are creatures from the black lagoon. I also don't watch slasher movies. People live in SWAMPS? Since I can not see me doing that why would I be drawn to people who do? Anyway. So they hunt alligators in Louisiana and Texas? To wear or to eat? Do they make shoes and jackets and purses out of the skin and cook the meat? "GATOR STEW"? Is that like ROADKILL? Not for me. Thank you for your reply m2c. SWAMP PEOPLE ain't my cuppa tea. Or swamp water. Or swamp soup. Or swamp fishing or swamp swiomming.
This post was edited by RosieG at January 21, 2021 1:40 PM MST
Yes. I do watch it. They just hunt alligators. Yes people do live in the swamps. They sell the gators to a company that buys them. I imagine the company sells the meat to restaurants and the hide for shoes etc.
Yes they make gator stew....or gumbo and jambalaya. It does not look very appetizing to me. I would prefer my meat fried.
YIKES! Any of 'em ever get within BITING distance of you? Do gators enter homes? That could be kinda unsettling. Thank you for your reply E and Happy Thursday to thee! :)
The closest I ever got was across a small creek is was fishing in...about 15 yards. I saw its tail come out of the air, then slam into the water and an egret disappeared. Some young boys, who were swinging on a rope and jumping into the creek gout out of the water and started throwing stones at if. I left. The creek was only a couple of hundred yards from my home. I never saw one out of the water.
They threw stones at it? To rescue the egret or just because that's what boys do? Very lucky you never saw one out of the water. Don't they sometime climb on out of the water and scurry across a lawn? I think having a creek that close to your home would be wondrous IF there were no alligators there. youever scared or wary? Hope those boys kept their distance! Thank you for your reply. Ya know we had a creek about two blocks from home. I remember going with the neighbor kids then and climbing down a small hill and getting to the bottom where the water was. It was always so cool and quiet down there. NO ALLIGATORS. We saw polywogs. It was a fun place to be. A "hideout" sort of. Long ago and far away. I was maybe 8? :)
Boys will be boys. Alligators are necessary for the ecology, so no, it didn't bother me that they were so close. They seem to only walk on lawns on TV videos. Water Moccasins were more of a problem. One of my shipmates was stuck in his apartment when a large one blocked his door.
Oh geez? Only for photo ops? Are water moccasins poisonous? It stared dow your shipmate? How large do they get? It got in the apartment building? A snake? I've heard stories that they can show up in a toilet bowl but that's kind of hard to believe. They'd have to fight gravity wouldn't they to slither up? It's dangerous out there sometimes. Also inside sometimes. Thank you for your repl E! :)
They are quite venomous, but I never encountered one. I did encounter a copperhead, another venomous snake there. I was on a golf cart path and it was lying coiled up next to the path. I picked it up with a golf club and tossed it into the woods so nobody would step on it. It was quite docile.
You WHAT? Picked it up with a golf club and flung it afar? That was brave. How do you KNOW it wouldn't strike immediately and bite you? OMG. Where was that golf course E? Clearly water moccasins live in the water right? Where do Copperheads live? Anyplace they want I guess. Did you report it to someone like a groundskeeper just so they'd know and could take care of it? It was "docile"? That seems very odd to me and also that you were VERY LUCKY! Thank you for your reply. I'll ask Jim if he ever encountered a snake on a golf course Of course we know some humans we encounter on golf courses are snakes or could be. But that's a different discussion. :)
This post was edited by RosieG at January 22, 2021 8:09 AM MST
Not lucky...cautious. I kept my distance and used my longest club. It was on a Navy golf course in Charleston. I would never pick it up with my hand; that would have been foolish.
Well also your intention was not to kill it. Just to get it out of the way. Still. Quick thinking. You say cautious. I think luck played a part too. Maybe you caught the snake at an inopportune moment when it might have been daydreaming? Distracted? Thank you for your reply E! :)
I don't want to be bitten by anything at any time for any reason. I expect different folks react differently to snake bites. Some may be more prone to react adversely. Thank you for your reply E! :)
my2cents 