Wildlife ! Does it Bother You

[Stevie Boy]

Just wondering how much the wildlife bothers people, does it interfere with your skiing, obviously there.s more of it about, will it become a problem, not sure if there have been many incidents, I have read about people jogging, that have had a problem and they are not in the water.

I get on with the skiing, but always come away thinking that I got away with it today, LoL

[DUSkier]

The Brown snakes that swim across our course occasionally are a bit of a worry, however the 8 foot long goannas don't seem bothered by us at all =)

[swc5150]

I thought the musky was the only thing to potentially fear up here in WI, until my brother got his nipple bit by a blue gill last summer. Then my buddy across the lake got bit by one the next day (on the nipple as well)! Both even drew blood! It makes me keep my vest or rash guard on while swimming around the dock.

[Than_Bogan]

Mutant Piranha Blue Gills of Nipple-Pecking Doooooooom!

[MrJones]

Long story. I was pulling a girl (Canadian) into the course at Airport lake in Lafayette. I saw something swimming across way ahead of us between 1 and 2. It was a medium size gator heading to the swamp side of the lake.

 

I thought about it for a second and thought, NBD, it'll dive as we get closer. I'm just gonna pull her. I didn't look around or tell the observer. No reason to distract anyone.

 

Anyway. I feel her pull out..... then nothing. I turned and looked over my shoulder at her. She was looking right at me shaking her head.

[teammalibu]

Shane got any stories?

[The_MS]

Beers, 4 wheeler, spotlight, 20 gauge and your all set.

[Horton]

@MS if that how you get hens?

[xrated]

Seeing a large snapping turtle has made me wait a minute before jumping in. Otherwise I don't worry about what is swimming since it is only fish and muskrats. Though much like @MS some beer and a shotgun on the end of the dock works on the rats, though that is more to keep them from tunneling in the banks and building homes in the pontoon.

 

I will say the last time a shotgun came out at 7:30 on a nice Saturday night the new family 3 cabins down enjoying one of their first lakeside fires was not overly impressed. Didn't even get a thanks like the other neighbors gave.

[jimbrake]

Our rides get routinely interrupted by ducks and geese. It's a pain in the ___. A duck to the shin isn't too bad, but a goose is a different deal.

[ForrestGump]

At the Cottonwood record, I was pulling little Chase Scott. At the end of the lake on his 3rd pass he started screaming like he'd been stuck with a knife. As he was setting down by the drop buoy, he realized there was a pissed off 5 ft long Water Moccasin swimming right for him. I swear the kid damn near walked on the water getting away from it and into the boat. The thing was wayyy aggressive. We told him we'd give him a reride but he was having none of that. Done for the day! lol. Later on, while pulling MS(I think) the same snake was making it's way back across course. I exited the gates and aimed for it dragging MS along with me. THUNK! It didn't kill it immediately, but was never seen again during the weekend.

[The_MS]

That was a bad ass snake.

[Chef23]

I would have had to give my buddy a duck re-ride this morning but we don't have anything dangerous in our lake.

[GAJ0004]

The only thing that gets in our way are canadian geese.. There is milk snake or northern water snake hovering around the dock. I see a turtle on occasion, but they take off as soon as we get close.

[teammalibu]

Shane I was on the dock when you brought Chase back and so was Chad. Chad says Chase, why did you quit? Chase says, Snake!! Chad says, did he bite ya. Chase says no. Chad says, then why did you quit? In Chases defense he is a tough little @#$& the nite before i saw him take an out the front that would have made me take a couple days off and he put his ski back on and finished the set. By the way we havnt seen the snake since you ran it over last I heard he was realy pissed and headed for Minnesotta!

[GAJ0004]

Lake Latonka has a fish club which stocks the lake. I am told it is one of the best bass fishing lakes in Pennsylvania. My brother always pulls in a nice fat bass. The perch are getting big too. There are some monster size catfish there too. On occasion trout and walleye are caught too since the lake is fed by several streams and dozens of springs. The seagulls like to sit on the orange buoys in the course. There are copperheads and rattlesnakes in PA but I have never seen one.

[ForrestGump]

@teammalibu I was willing to sacrifice MS if necessary so chase could ski without fear the next day. That was a big freaking snake.

[slalom frog]

Loons pop up in the course at times for us. However, the best one was when my wife go bit on the a$$ by a snapping turtle while waiting for the water to settle out on one end of our course. It was literally like a scene from Jaws. We had no idea what was happening as she was completely freaking out. We were about 40 feet from her, pointed towards the course. Couldn't make it back to her that quickly, at least not quick enough for her. She made me drag her into the boat with the ski on and everything, swearing the entire time. Once we saw the little bite mark on her rump, me and my 2 boys could not stop laughing at her. No skin was broken or blood was drawn but there was a bite impression.

[gregy]

The water moccasins love to hang out under the jump ramp at our lake. They make me a little nervous. They usually just stay there when you get on, no fear of humans. Cows like to swim across the course, they're not exactly wildlife though.

[crashman]

our club is perhaps a little unique in that facility is comprised of a few stone quarries. There's one we ski in, but another is kind of a hoosier beach area with a campground and snack bar, plenty of coolers and such. Several times a year they have 3 day festivals that involve "music" and lots of drunk/stoned drifters. Even though the ski lake is supposed to be off limits to non-members sometimes they spill over toward the ski lake. Last year we came tearing down the course and right in the drop zone was some sort of shirtless creature- to this day my ski partner and I debate whether it was a man with the biggest man boobs we've ever seen or a very manly woman. But in any case it was definitely wild life.

[GAJ0004]

@crashman. Sounds like bigfoot...

[The_MS]

Rough crowd in here.

[Wish]

Buddy tooK a seagul to the chest recently at ball 5. Thought the rider in the boat was gonna have a heart attack he was laughing so hard.

 

In MN my buddy took several carp to the feet as he was barefooting. Had to have a Dr dig out the fish bones. Seriously painful to watch the Doc dig all of them out.

[thager]

@wish Was that a Mesaba guy?

[Dusty]

Had a goose hit my legs, and swallows nearly take me in the face. My ski partner took a goose in her ribs and didn't ski for several days. Hitting a 10 pound carp at the surface has resulted in some spectacular OTF's too. Not sure how I'd deal with snakes and gators. other than maybe being a little 'proactive' with them...

[sixball]

Got a carp last Sunday with the prop.

[mac]

A new ski guest this morning...

[DaveD]

I saw an article about a 8 foot alligator garr caught in a Texas lake the other day. I won't be complaining about cold water in Michigan anymore.

[PBD]

I had a flock of pelicans fly in front of the boat while I was pulling a buddy. Two of the dumb things actually hit the side of the boat. My fear was one of them might tumble into the boat after hitting it. I really didn't want to mess with an angry bird with a long sharp beak.

 

After my buddy dropped we went back to where the flock had landed and all the birds were able to fly away so they are apparently pretty tough.

[Jody_Seal]

 

We have friends too!

[Wish]

@jody seal was it dead or is that the GATOR WHISPERER

[Jody_Seal]

We have that one trained! she likes to come up on the platform for a little love and a scratch behind the ears. Then she goes back to guarding the slalom course and keeping away the wakeboarders and lake lice!

[SDNAH2OSKIER]

We ski in Mission Bay San Diego, thus my username, we constantly taunt one another about seeing sharks, though we,ve never seen one, but we do see lots of wildlife, my son was waiting to wakeboard when a large dolphin swam in front of the boat and was surfacing near the boat for a few minutes, my son (13) was unfazed. We see bat wing rays and seals and have to contend with some sea weed but we like to ski and take it in stride. I do admit that occasionally I see shadows below me and bark at the driver to get me up. : )

[cwillygood]

last year, our friends from Twin Lakes, NJ hit a snapping turtle and it got stuck on the skegs on the bottom of the boat, pretty wild, but overall dont really have a problem with it, other than the beavers

[OTF]

I ski with MS, isn't that wildlife?

[The_MS]

Truly wild

[xrated]

@cwillygood did ya cook it up?

[pjirsa]

I had a snapping turtle pop its head up right in front of me as i was about to turn in for the gates last year. I swear it was about 3 feet in diameter. Me and the turtle had the same expression on our faces. Holy S#!T

 

[swc5150]

For the past week, the ducks have been off the hook on our lake. There are thousands of them it seems. I have to make a few passes up and down the lake with the boat to get them move so we can ski. It's only a matter of time before a run over one with a ski or boat. PITA!

[GAJ0004]

I am a member of PETA. People Eating Tasty Animals..

[Wish]

Poorly

Educated

Tofu eating

Adolescents

[Horton]

@GAJ0004

You might want to talk to @MS there is a story that he only kills and eats hen ducks. Kind of strange if you ask me

[jedgell]

Showed up at the lake today and the entrance gates were both under water. Something, probablya nutrea (sp?) or muskrat had bitten a hole in them. A couple years ago we were having a bad problem with muskrats sinking balls, about 4 a week. One actually swam out and sank one while I was skiing! Luckily I had my .22 with me, took care of him.

When I lived in Houston a couple members killed a 13' gator in our lake. I had skied the night before, glad I didn't run into it.

[Dusty]

GAJ0004- I too am a proud member of that PETA... Saw a bumper sticker not long ago, that said- "If God didn't want us to eat animals, why did He make them out of meat?" Been looking for one of those- they seem hard to find here on the "Left" coast....

[Taelan28]

Yes wildlife bothers me. If I saw a snake I'd chase it down and cut it up. Turtles? I'd check. Snapping turtles? Dead. Baby Gators? What baby gators?

Fortunately theres no harmful wildlife where I am. From my experience in the US, even on the indian reservation, if someone hears gun shots the authorities are immediately called.

[Ham_Wallace]

GAJ004! I am a member as well.

[McGruder]

Years ago in our days of sub-par course materials we employed on a dollar budget, we caught a gar that entangled itself in the nylon buoy line. A few weeks later, one of the buoys was way out of position - thought it had broken loose. Went to pick it up and the cinder blocks were still attached and the buoy was pretty deflated. We couldn't figure out how that buoy got so far out of position with the anchor still attached. Upon closer inspection, the buoy was perforated with perfect alligator teeth marks. Never happened again and never heard of it happening anywhere else. We put it back in place and went skiing.

[swc5150]

@GAJ004

I, as well, am a proud member! I didn't make it to the top of the food chain to eat grass.

 

[9400]

Long ago and far away, I thought of myself as a jumper, I had a small gator rise up at the bottom of the jump at the same time I was arriving. The cartwheels were spectacular but the landing wasn't so good.

 

Same jump, different lake. One of my ski partners hits a bird mid flight and the beak goes into his forearm about an inch.

[3event]

My ski hit a gator one time in FL. I fell and it swam off