Gators

[lpskier]

A gator grabbed a two year old child at Disney last evening. I know I try to put those critters out of my mind when skiing, but they are dangerous. #iskiconnelly

[MISkier]

When I stayed at Liki Tiki Village in Winter Garden in April, they had a sign at their lagoon that said that alligators inhabit every body of water in Florida and swimming or entering the water was dangerous. That should be on every "No Swimming" sign in Florida.

 

Oddly enough, when I was at Disney in 1979, their water park was River Country. I swam there, along with hundreds of other visitors. It was actually a lagoon of Bay Lake, which is attached to the Seven Seas Lagoon where this terrible incident occurred. That park remained open until 2001, when Florida law required artificial pools and water treatment at water parks.

 

I have always worried about the gators while skiing in Florida. Not everyone knows that they exist far outside of the Everglades and/or the alligator farm attractions.

[Edbrazil]

It might have been Mark Crone who used to ski on a lake with a big gator or more that

would hang out near the SL course. Procedure was first to run the boat up and back

without a skier. Some places have had problems with gators chomping buoys.

One of the first Florida tournaments I went to was at Lake Hollingsworth in Lakeland, that

had one at least 12 feet, who would hang around at the launch ramp.

[The_MS]

You can bet an ambulance chaser will be involved soon. A sad story that will only make a profit for some high roller.

[Chef23]

That story is scary.

[Horton]

Horrifying

[pkreusch]

While I feel the parents' pain, these things just happen. There will always be some story in the news about something tragic. This is what the media does, sensationalize stories. We could all live in a safe bubble but what fun is that? I have no doubt the parents are good people that protect their children. It is what it is.... an unfortunate accident involving an animal that no man has control over. BTW, odds of getting hit by lightning in Florida is more likely than being attacked by alligators.

[jetpilotg4]

Lake wauburg, Gainesville Fl. Skied in a handful of tournaments there, and there was always stoppage for a passing gator or two ... Never thought why everyone always made it back to the dock after skiing ....

[Razorskier1]

Orlando has had a tragic week.

[Texas6]

Wow, no kidding man - horrible week.

[Wish]

It is tragic and I feel for this family and they are in my prayers. @pkreusch is correct. Media certainly is putting a sensational spin on it with very colorful descriptions. This is a big story because it is rare, and because a young child lost a life. REALLY rare. 117 folks die each day in car accidents. The gator does not even hit the top 10 for the most dangerous animals. Horses rank much higher. It was wrong place wrong time same as any other tragedy. Gators are nocturnal feeders. They are opportunists not tracking hunters like lions or pack wolves. You have to get in their space. And yes, people actually feed them..worst thing possible to do. Chances are good that folks being around that man made lake drop food in all the time unaware of what is eating it and coming back to that area for more. There are more gators in each body of water in FL then you realize. They just do not want to have anything to do with you especially during the daylight hours. There is nothing Disney could have done to prevent this..nothing. And it is the Disney name that makes it all that much more sensational unfortunately. My daughter has been swimming in our lake since she was 18 months. I have 0 fear of these animals but just about every time I strapped her into her car seat when she was little, I felt a little worried and stayed sharp behind the wheel. Now she is driving and I am scared to death every time she pulls out of the driveway.

 

I have skied Lake Waubarg once.....once. Chalk full of gators. Same thing..stopped the tourny for one to pass by the course. I think the University of FLorida ski team still ( I know they did ) practices there.

[Jody_Seal]

 

Very Sad about the Orlando 2 year old, Family devastated also prayers go out to them!

 

I have my buoy's chomped regularly by gators on Deer Point.

 

[LeonL]

I use to ski every spring at Ski Paradise in Mulberry. One of the owners, a long time FL resident, commented, albeit a little exaggerated, "there's an alligator in every body of water in FL bigger than a kids play pool". And if one isn't there today he may tomorrow. Tragic, certainly as @Wish said, but there is nothing anyone can do to keep them out short of a big wall all around. Edit ...... For BOS guys, skiing around gators is not really hazardous. They're wild animals and frightened of people and boats. They're nocturnal feeders. While I'm not scared to ski with gators in the water, I ain't about to swim at night anywhere in FL.

[Marco]

Such a tragedy, and my heart goes out to the family.

 

I don't think skiing with alligators is that much of a threat, but I would be more concerned about the Nile crocodiles that have turned up in South Florida.

 

CNN article

[Steveo]

Living in Fl I tell new residents/visitors if there is a body of water assume there is a gator in it. Some have even ended up in residential swimming pools. The family was from Nebraska I'm sure they had no idea. thoughts and prayers go out to them.

[Texas6]

We caught this little guy last summer and stuck him in my neighbors pool as a joke. He knew it was us and called us to help him get it out of his pool later that night. It was a lot more complicated getting this little guy out of his pool after a few beers on a Saturday night. Mistake in hindsight:)

 

[skidawg]

We had a gator in out lake when my son was 2, he didn't like it there

[ScottScott]

I ski various locations in the central florida area. Despite the fact that the kind of water we like is often going to be smaller lakes or quiet coves, closer to shore, and often undeveloped areas (the kind of locations there would more likely be gators) I have never heard of an attach on a skier, or even seen one while out skiing. I have only really heard of 1 close encounters with an aggressive gator from a skier, but especially with the boat nearby, their preference is to stay away. It is in the back of my mind every time I jump in the water tho, or wait for the boat to come back for me after a fall. There are certainly chains of lake, or areas that I don't ski. Deeply saddened by the incident at Disney, and my heart goes out to the family. With as many people that are from other areas visiting, there should probably be more warnings other than "no swimming." There likely will be now. The waters edge after dark should be avoided.Although, I believe as long as disney has been around, I think this is the 1st gator incident like that.

[Stevie Boy]

They worry me, but if you want to ski with some of the best water ski coaches in the world, then you have to climb into that lovely warm water, try and put it to one side and enjoy your skiing, if I see one, I then have trouble putting it to one side, my heart goes out to the family what a terrible thing to see, a loved one taken from the world in that way, I hope they can find a way to continue their lives, it's going to be hard for all of them.

[gregy]

I saw a few on the Rio Grande River while canoeing near Big Bend. Nothing but desert for hundreds of miles.

[ozski]

here you go

[IheartJump]

Attached is my buoys sprayed with gator repellent!

 

I was losing 2-3 a day in lake Howell in Orlando and complained to a friend... He said when he was at Swiss they painted the bottoms black so they're less noticeable.

 

I'm on a different lake now, no issues so far.

 

 

[MattL]

I skied at Cypress for SCR regionals 2014 and at the turn island they have a plastic gator head in the water. Enough to scare you at first. It was funny to watch people's reactions when they spotted the head.

[aupatking]

I have a course in an island up the Tensaw River, a couple miles north of Mobile Bay in the Mobile River delta in Alabama. We lose a couple turn balls every couple months with round puncture holes. The alligators are curious, and it only seems to happen at night.

It is a little unnerving when dropping at the ends, as we do see them out there and there's no way to know how big they may be around there. Generally, at around 12 feet, you know what it's capable of, and I've heard experts say that is big enough to be a man eater. That said, no attack has ever occurred and I pray it never does.

I just can't imagine. Don't want to. I'm praying for them.

[liquid d]

Disney is going to pay....not that it makes up for the life. They do not have Alligator signs up. They have no swimming signs up. They get millions of people there that don't speak or read English. It's stupid on their part to not have a pic of a gator (which would be universally understood) on signs. There is a beach in that lake at this resort.

I bet they put up signs, and hire a lifeguard now.

 

 

[lpskier]

Apparently there was a lifeguard nearby, but he or she was unable to help. The child was apparently in a few inches of water, at dusk. Wrong place, wrong time. What a tragedy.

#iskiconnelly

[liquid d]

The lifeguard is for the splash pool.

[chris55]

We do not hear this kind of news here in Geneva but it is horrifying for the parents. Prayers go to them. Tragic week for Orlando.

[ForrestGump]

We have quite a few gators in the Southeast Texas public lakes. You're completely safe around them in the daylight hours. It's from dusk on that the adult alligators feed.

[skierjp]

The 2 year old was now reported in 1 foot of water so I would say that puts him about waist to chest deep! What part of no swimming did they not understand? If a Water Moccasin bit him would Disney need a sign for snakes also. I feel for the family. We all need to use common sense in situations that we are not familer with. What a tragedy.

I'm sure Disney will willingly pay what ever it takes.

There is now another report of another person being bitten by a gator at Disney years ago.

[Marco]

The report I saw said he was 1 foot from the shoreline, not 1 foot deep.

[T-fromTO]

Greg Sund has video of a 4 foot gator in the east/west lake at Okeheelee about 3 weeks ago. He took the video so we would believe him. I try not to think too hard on this when I occasionally ski there at night under the lights.

[Orlando76]

Where we ski on the Harris/Eustis/Dora chain in FL we have at any moment 5 gators 6'+ watching us, and those are the ones we can see.

 

Weird because I'm in VA this week, trying to ski, and at any given moment there's 5 deer watching us. What a change.

[harddock]

One of the "experts" on the news stated it was common to loose a pet to an alligator, it just doesn't make the news. This was tragic but an accident non the less. We tend to get complacent about things. It takes an event as horrific as this to awaken the public to the dangers that are around us.

[ScottScott]

@Orlando76 Thats why I don't ski on the Harris chain. We boat there often as its one of the few places with a nice variety of restaurant/bars on the water to boat to.....but no skiing. Within the last year there have been 2 gator bites making the news on the harris chain, people working along the shoreline behind their canal front yards.

[BRY]

A few other fun facts:

FL is one of the few places on earth to have both crocodiles and alligators

Alligators like doggy doors, nothing like coming home to a 7' gator in the house

Crocodiles like salt and brackish water, alligators like brackish and fresh water. So we have you covered in any body of water here.

Living with Alligators and Crocodiles

 

[jipster43]

Okeheelee under the lights takes on greater significance now.

[Orlando76]

@ScottScott beauclaire is my front yard, driving to Conway 4x a week won't cut it.

 

I spend a good part of Aug-Nov as a recreational gator trapper which has taught me many things about gators. I may be over confident but as long as the boat is running and within 60' of me I feel comfortable. Also In The event of a gator or any other wild animal attack, stick your fingers in their eyes and try to shove their eyes as far back as possible. That's something I learned from a 10 year old Who survived an attack from a 6' gator.

[ScottScott]

@Orlando76 I watch Gator Boys....does that count?

 

Certainly can't blame you for staying close to home, especially if you are directly on the lake. Logic tells me I'm OK near boat with it running, and I have never heard of an incident between skier and gator....but its still in the back of my mind. I am fascinated by them, and try to learn as much as i can. Enjoy viewing them from inside the boat, or the Lake Apopka Wildlife drive.

 

 

This was taken at a par 3 on deer island.

[Steveo]

Couple of nights ago I watched a National Geographic program about the exploding population of crocs in Australia. The show metioned that they are found in all bodies of water there. They are more aggressive than our American Alligator. Large crocs are very common and they will stalk you and kill day or night. Any down under ballers have any experience with crocs?

[ScottScott]

@Steveo You've seen we have Nile Crocs showing up in the everglades now. They'll be making their way up this way soon enough, then you'll know 1st hand.

[Edbrazil]

Noting the comments by @Steveo I have been to Australia several times in conjunction

with my water ski work. One comment I heard about the crocs there is don't camp by

the water more than 2 days. Because, on the 3rd, a croc will get you. And, that is not

a crock.

[Steveo]

Echoing what @Edbrazil posted. I remember reading a story about a camper who was dragged from his tent during the night. Somehow the camper escaped.

@ScottScott state officials have said not to worry they won't gain a foothold. Yeah right, thats what they said about the python also which has flourished in the everglades and is now a problem.

[Orlando76]

For years and years we've had crocs in FL. Why now is it being acknowledged? Plus theyre at least as far north as the Merit Island Refuge because you will almost always find one in there.

[ScottScott]

There have been harmless florida crocs for years. Now there have been nile crocs found in s florida. A different breed all together. I'm sure it won't be an issue, at least in central florida. Could be an issue in S florida like the pythons.

[lpskier]

I skied recently in South Carolina with a gator lurking around the 55's. They're not just in Florida ski lakes. #iskiconnelly

[rodltg2]

 

[Stevie Boy]

@rodltg2 would that Alligator be called Trump by any chance ?

[dchristman]

Please let's leave politics to that other ski forum.

[igkya]

Politics or not, that was kinda funny.