Gator kills swimmer at Blue Spring, Orange City, Florida

[scubadada]

I did 2 dives at Blue Spring in 2008, never once thought there might be alligators in the river, would have surprised the heck out of me

 

[The Chairman]

I did 2 dives at Blue Spring in 2008, never once thought there might be alligators in the river, would have surprised the heck out of me

It's easy to test for gators in any body of water.

Is this fresh/brackish body of water in Florida? Then yes, there are gators present. Have fun!

 

[PatW]

NetDoc is right virtually any body of fresh water in Florida can have a gator. People often find them in their swimming pools. Gators do have legs. Typically, gators eat turtles, fish, birds, raccoons, and other small mammals. They really, really like dogs. But unlike some of the croc species, they do not usually attack large mammals, like cattle, horses and adult humans.

I did some dive training at Alexander Springs. There was a small gator, about 6', there. She was not interested in divers. She went after the plestomus cats in the springs. These cat fish get about 18 inches long and are exotics. They got there from people dumping their tropical fish in the water ways.

i have heard that a big gator will set up a territory and defend it against intruders. I suppose if a big gator killed a swimmer whilst defending its territory, it would not waste the food.

Now, I do go out to get photos of water fowl. I often see gators and some pretty big ones. But getting close to a sleeping gator does not seem like a good idea.

 

[The Chairman]

They really, really like dogs.

That's almost right... they really, really like BARKING dogs. You might think it's funny how your terrierist is harrassing that gator. The gator will always get in the last word and you won't be laughing. They seem to respect cats though. Something about messing with the King of the Beast's closest cousin I believe.

 

[finnks]

That's almost right... they really, really like BARKING dogs. You might think it's funny how your terrierist is harrassing that gator. The gator will always get in the last word and you won't be laughing. They seem to respect cats though. Something about messing with the King of the Beast's closest cousin I believe.

Simple - cats are consummate predators, dogs are cuddly house pets.

While I was out of town my daughters geese were eaten by the neighborhood bobcat, all of 20-30 pounds. My two dogs (90 & 100 pounds) stood downstairs in our house barking for my wife to come handle the problem rather than running outside to confront the cat. Both dogs are smart enough to recognize how hazardous a cat is, while either of them will happily take on a dog (which is a total pain in the A$$ when walking them!). Note the larger dog is of a breed commonly used for protection from bears and other large predators, they should have pulled that kitty cat apart.

This all happened the second night I was out of town because my daughter forgot to lock up the birds for that evening while I was not available to double check...

Gators are also not limited to Florida. This summer a 6+ footer was repeatedly spotted in my MIL's neighborhood next to a popular lake here in north-central Texas. For those in the area it was on the north side of lake Lewisville, north of Dallas. NetDoc's familiarity with gators may breed contempt for small ones, but I'd still be terrified meeting a 3' gator on a dive.

 

[The Chairman]

Half a gator's length is in its tail. A three foot gator is awfully tiny. If you're confronted with a gator on scuba, don't forget the tried and true gator disrupter: air from your regulator. This works for most aggressive animals including sharks.

Mid seventies I was diving Fanning Springs. Not much to see there, so we swam down to the Suwannee and into the tannic stained water. I had just started to poke into a hole when I was confronted by the head of a bobcat. Shocked the crap out of me and I learned to go backwards pretty darn quick. One thought lead to the other and I came to the conclusion that whatever put that bobcat into that hole had to be a big ol' bull gator! That means I was in his territory and I had no idea where he might be. I have to admit that I found my way back to the spring PDQ. Yeah, this was before Jaws, but I did have an active imagination.

 

[seeker242]

"Just walk around, they won't bother you". Seriously, that is what the park rangers say. Ha! Although, I don't think I would enjoy meeting one in the water.

 

[The Chairman]

Gators on land rarely pose a threat. They're trying to warm up a bit so they're all exposed. The gator you need to worry about is the one you don't see.

We were fossil diving on the Tomoka river, just north of Daytona. The guy leading us was taking us downstream, which is the wrong way when you're hunting fossils. I was just able to see his yaller fins a couple of feet in front of me and we were only in 10ft of water. All of a sudden I saw the yaller fins head for the surface. I ascended only to find this guy freaking out looking for a gator. Apparently, he thought the gator's tail was a big tooth of some sort and was quite surprised when it came to life. I had to laugh because he was really spooked. Then I explained that a sleeping gator on the river bottom was probably even more surprised than he was and probably almost to the Atlantic by now! We weren't finding much, so we cut the dive short. Fun times.

 

[billinwilliamston]

12 ft's a big gator. I start worrying about them when they get bigger than 10 ft. Below that, and they're more afraid of me than I am of them.

You're a better man than I. No matter what the size, I'm more afraid of them than they are of me, guaranteed. After all, even a cute little one can take make lunch out of a finger and I've grown attached to mine.

 

[islanddream]

This guy was wandering in our neighborhood after people put out their garbage cans for pickup the next day. Glad I wasn't walking my poochie when Mr. Gator appeared!