Flordia tilapia flies?

[Swamp Fly 0]

Good plan Skeet...

[skeet3t 0]

Not sure where he will be. I'm under the impression that this is a private resort. Will check. I'll be talking with him this week to get him set up with  necessary flies. He should be OK.

Off topic a bit but gators have been seen around the Alabama/Tennessee state line areas plus West Tennessee.

[Swamp Fly 0]

If he will be in a resort I would not worry about it.  Large or aggressive gators are summarily removed from places like that.  Still not a reason for not taking care but that should be pretty tame.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Seriously, keep a close eye on any kids around freshwater here in Florida... and do your best to counsel kids to stay a good distance from any 'gator...  Where I am I routinely see families walking within five feet of big 'gators or crocs that are hauled out on a boat ramp somewhere - while holding their little ones by the hand.  If an attack occurs,  you simply won't be able to stop it at all.  Every now and then down here a woman walking a small dog ends up in the water trying to defend her pet - with very bad consequences.  To add to your hazard - remember that a big 'gator has a mouth just full of bacteria and any bite can end up being life threatening - even if it's only minor from the resulting infection... 

You have to see what they're capable of to believe it.  I once witnessed a big 'gator take a great blue heron - that was walking on top of a seawall that was a good four feet off of the water.  That 'gator silently eased within range and then rocketed up in the air at least five or six feet to be able to grab that big bird... then eased back down into the water.  The heron only had time for a single squawk - and it was gone...  Both 'gators and crocs can actually outrun you on the ground in a fifty yard dash as well... 

 

A very well publicized tragedy down here happened at Disney world a few years ago.  One of those "well managed man-made lakes" at the resort had a few 'gators hanging around.  Everybody enjoyed looking at them until one of them attacked and killed a child....  Needless to say local authorities aren't real keen on publicizing such events.... 

 

[skeet3t 0]

Gators and crocs can outrun a Kentucky thoroughbred over a short distance. Peter Hathaway Capstick states this in his books, Maneater and Death in the Long Grass.

[Swamp Fly 0]

Oh yeah, trolling at the waters edge with fido is a very bad idea.  That hits the news 2-3 times a year.  I always feel bad for the dog.

You are 100% correct that the physical damage is only half the problem.  A landscape worker on Sanibel Island was grabbed while she was wetting a handkerchief to cool down.  She had some injuries but the flora inside a gators mouth is terrible, she died from the infection not from injuries.  There are lots of gram negative involved bacteria that are very difficult to treat.

That's why most of the resorts, condos, and such have them removed, bad PR when a guest or resident gets grabbed.

Like many things there is no reason to fear gators in general, but don't ever loose respect for their abilities and don't put yourself into a bad situation.  Sure I'll get in the water but I never do it lightly, I pick my spots, and if something doesn't look or feel right I'm outta there.  I had a hatchling clamp down on my thumb 30 yrs ago and the the amount of bite force was memorable to the point that I've never forgot it.  I had to wait for it to let go, no way was I going to pry it off without maiming the gator, anything bigger and I doubt I could hurt one with my bare hands.  For the record I wouldn't hurt a gator because I was being stupid unless my life was in danger.  I held a 2.5" gator shortly after the thumb incident and it decided that it wanted away, it took every bit of strength that I had to sort of control it. That was the last time I picked one up.  Those animal are one big powerful muscle.  Pound for pound a human has zero chance in a strength contest.

That must have been a sight seeing that heron get taken.  Herons aren't exactly weaklings themselves plus they take off at the first sign of movement.  Spend enough time outdoors and you get to see some amazing things.

@ Skeet: I've read the same, and I believe it wholeheartedly.  I've seen those dinosaurs MOVE.

 

[skeet3t 0]

7 hours ago, Swamp Fly said:

Pound for pound a human has zero chance in a strength contest.

Capstick's book, Death in the Long Grass, tells of a tug-of-war between a croc and a rhino. The croc clamped down on the rhino's nose. It was noted that the rhino was slowly eased toward the water until his nose was under water. Drowned the rhino and lots of meals for the croc.

[DarrellP 0]

I spent a lot of time around gators in the Ross Barnett Reservoir in Mississippi.   They get very aggressive in spring when breeding.  Otherwise they are pretty quiet.  If they swim back and forth in front of you they are guarding a nest.  If they raise their tail and head, they are about to blow up.  Most attacks are based on opportunism and people getting too close without knowing. I would not get into the water and do not drag a stringer of fish unless you want to get flipped.  It is not the gator you see...and don't forget about water moccasins. 

[mikechell 0]

I'm an amateur herpetologist.  I've been a resident of Central Florida since 1992.  In all that time, I have only seen one Cottonmouth (Water Moccasin).  I've seen a lot of Green and Brown Water Snakes, which get large and look like the Cottonmouth.

I saw more Cottonmouth Snakes in North Carolina while fishing near Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune than I've seen in any other part of the country.  Here, in Florida, I've had many people call on me to remove a Cottonmouth from their property only to find some kind of non-venomous snake there.

While I would not say that the danger isn't present at all ... I'd be very surprised if a casual visitor, fishing in common populated areas, would ever see an actual Cottonmouth.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

My teenage years were spent up in north Alabama, 60 years ago now... and I rambled woods and creeks at every opportunity.  Can't tell you how many cottonmouths I got entirely too close to.... I've been told that we have them down here in south Florida - but I've never seen a single one.  I have seen a fair number of small rattlesnakes - some of them swimming right by my skiff where we could get a very close look at them - as well as seeing a few of them crossing the road down to Flamingo in Everglades National Park (the only road in the Park - it's 38 miles long and part of my daily commute if I'm booked out of Flamingo..).   We've only encountered one big rattler - and at first I mistook it for a young python and had my anglers all primed with cameras out since it was swimming across the canal we were idling down and we could see it long before we got close... I was very surprised when it turned out to be a very big eastern diamondback - a perfect specimen without a single scale out of place - and within about 20 feet of us as it crossed the canal, swimming along slowly like it owned the place.  That snake looked to be nearly eight feet long and after it made the far bank it turned and headed... towards the boat ramp... To this day I look really closely at my surroundings around that ramp...   Don't ask about the pythons - I'm sick about how badly they've decimated our small warm blooded animals in the Park - and I doubt we'll ever get rid of them... 

[Swamp Fly 0]

I've seen two moccasins here at the house, both smallish. Lots of brown water snakes and black racers to be seen pretty much any day you could want.  I found one dead  Eastern Diamondback that had strangled itself in chicken wire (getting into the coop).  One of the neighbors sees several Diamondbacks a year, he has a migration route on  his land.  I'm glad I don't. I see the standard assortment of corn snakes here and there.  I have not seen and Burmese Pythons in the neighborhood but a neighbor across the street said she saw a snake that basically stretched across the dirt road, not much else that could have been.  All of the rabbits disappeared a few years ago, between the two that's not a good sign.  Interestingly we have a bunch of rabbits again this year so maybe the coyotes had just gotten ambitious for a while.

Well Capt, I'm afraid that the pythons will only go away when the food runs out. The only viable way to really get rid of them is if a genetically triggered pathogen is developed, which would be great if it worked only as intended.

Swamp

 

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Yep… but when those darned pythons run out of food…. They’ll go where they can find food.  Very bad news in my opinion.

 

And just when I vowed to quit talking about ‘gators… another woman was reported killed by one in the news.  Over on the west coast of the state I believe.