Gators are meaner than sharks

Newell Nut · August 09, 2015, 05:13:41 PM

http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2015/8/9/woman_bit_by_alligat.html

Gators don't nip and let go like the sharks do with the surfers. Gators bite to eat.

conchydong · August 09, 2015, 09:34:06 PM

No doubt. I don't swim in fresh water for many reasons and gators are one of them. I am much more comfortable with Sharks. When I was younger and spearfished a lot, I had a few encounters with Sharks and they were predictable, with me generally hitting the Shark on the nose with the butt of my Spear Gun and if they came back, I would give up my catch to them. I would then go back to the boat and clean my baggies (swim trunks) of the unwanted residue.

Newell Nut · August 09, 2015, 10:44:03 PM

In my opinion all the trouble with gators started when we started protecting them and the numbers have gotten too high. Just like the manatees. They are ruining the mosquito lagoon and Indian river.

I believe in letting nature work out things. If something nears extinction, man should not interfere. How many of you wish the dinosaurs were still here?

conchydong · August 09, 2015, 11:08:15 PM

I agree about the Gators. I never heard that Manatees were brought from India. I was taught that the Florida Manatee is a sub species of the West Indian Manatee. Of course, the West Indies were incorrectly named by the early explorers who were sailing to India for the spice trades.

Reel 224 · August 10, 2015, 01:03:13 AM

Quote from: Newell Nut on August 09, 2015, 10:44:03 PM
In my opinion all the trouble with gators started when we started protecting them and the numbers have gotten too high. Just like the manatees. They are not even native to the area. They were imported from India to eat hyacinths and they like grass better so we now have problems in our intercostal waterways due to the manatee pigs and we protect the darned things. They are ruining the mosquito lagoon and Indian river.

I believe in letting nature work out things. If something nears extinction, man should not interfere. How many of you wish the dinosaurs were still here?

Alligators are dangerous in two ways the bite to eat as you mentioned and there bite can get infected and kill as well, and has! Some times extinction is caused by man not nature, But if the Dinosaur does come back it may control some of the sub human species

Joe

Reel 224 · August 10, 2015, 03:51:34 AM

Quote from: MarkT on August 10, 2015, 01:09:16 AM
Manatees imported from India? Man what are you smoking... it must be some good stuff.

Ya know something I'm starting to notice here after hanging around....some people here are quick to criticize an honest mistake if it is one or not. Show a little tact and PM someone if you are so sure of yourself.

Joe

Newell Nut · August 10, 2015, 11:49:05 AM

Thank you Joe.

Last year the Feds did remove manatees from the endangered list but decided to continue with protection for an unspecified time.
The information that I got about the manatees is from the local politicians that are fighting the overprotection since it is creating another imbalance in the ecosystem here. The adults are over 1000 lb and eat 15% of their body weight every day in grass so the increased numbers are a bad thing. When we tamper with one thing we mess up another.

Now back to gators. During the mating season they can be really aggressive but even in other times of the year they are unpredictable.
Back in the 70s the 10 to 15 pound bass were plentiful here but we just don't see that many of them anymore. These big bass don't move so fast and my suspicion is the increased number of gators has taken a toll on them. Funny how we set our catch and size limits but we can't tell the gators not to eat them.
As a kid the Silver Springs glass bottom boats would allow us to see huge catfish and bass but the attraction is long gone now.

Reel 224 · August 10, 2015, 01:20:33 PM

Quote from: Newell Nut on August 10, 2015, 11:49:05 AM
Thank you Joe.

Last year the Feds did remove manatees from the endangered list but decided to continue with protection for an unspecified time.
The information that I got about the manatees is from the local politicians that are fighting the overprotection since it is creating another imbalance in the ecosystem here. The adults are over 1000 lb and eat 15% of their body weight every day in grass so the increased numbers are a bad thing. When we tamper with one thing we mess up another.

Now back to gators. During the mating season they can be really aggressive but even in other times of the year they are unpredictable.
Back in the 70s the 10 to 15 pound bass were plentiful here but we just don't see that many of them anymore. These big bass don't move so fast and my suspicion is the increased number of gators has taken a toll on them. Funny how we set our catch and size limits but we can't tell the gators not to eat them.
As a kid the Silver Springs glass bottom boats would allow us to see huge catfish and bass but the attraction is long gone now.

That is a shame and again proves how certain species that are reintroduced to nature can be harmful as well, like the Wolf has and the Coyote that were natural to the areas at one time, here in NJ the Coyote has practically cleaned up wild Turkey and Cotton tail Rabbit. Nature had taken it's course and man has messed with it creating more problems.

Joe