Diving w/ Gators

[sskasser]

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/04/140175...ing-mans-sport

1 - Don't hesitate
2 - Don't let go
Not A Thinking Man’s Sport

Says an esteemed graduate of the school of gator wrasslin!

[graepaep]

My motto was always 'If I bump into something I'm only worried if it bumps back'

One of our jobs was accessible form shore. Right where we walked into the water was a big red 'Do Not Feed The Alligators' sign.

[deepairmike]

Says an esteemed graduate of the school of gator wrasslin!

She kicked gator butt!!!! They ran in fear. S.G. You should post some of your photos.

[JE]

Gators & Crocs tend to avoid hard hat divers & fully dressed scuba/tech divers becasue we tend to be clanky & look un-edible. I've not heard of any rabid gators either, so I really don't think you have to worry. If you are in swim trunks & a shorty wet suit it may be a different story, because your arms & legs look like a turtle to them or perhaps a giant frog ! BTW, avoid chumming or feeding them as well, then they become un-predictable.

FYI !

[Squirrel Girl]

She kicked gator butt!!!! They ran in fear. S.G. You should post some of your photos.

Oh, no I didn't! I was skeered of the little ones, but somehow managed it. But seeing how mean the caimen were, it skeered me more for the bigger gators.



Boy, those comments on the NPR site were pretty crazy. Lotta PETA type people there. If they could have only seen how much you were into that little bundle of fur you were cuddling at the farm......

I'll see if I can get some pictures up somehow, but I gotta do it at home, and I'm kinda busy these days.

[JCGoodwin]

I used to have a Cayman croc "Amos" he was a mean little SOB!
He would terminate a bag full of goldfish, leopard frogs, but his favorite were those really large grass hoppers.
He had an appetite and i liked to watch him hunt and eat.
My little guy grew almost 2 feet over the course of a 1.5 yrs.
He grew to have quite an attitude and bit my wife which was not a really nice thing to do.

Once he realized biting was fun it was a pain to take care of him and he bit me once as well.
He developed a health issue and one day rather unexpected he was floating belly up.
I questioned my wife thinking that she laced his grass hoppers with something but she swore she did not!
I did not have the heart to skin him but rather buried him.

Still miss that little mean SOB!

JCG

[Squirrel Girl]

Had he not died unexpectedly, what would you have done in 5 more years when he was 8'?

I used to have a Cayman croc "Amos" he was a mean little SOB!
He would terminate a bag full of goldfish, leopard frogs, but his favorite were those really large grass hoppers.
He had an appetite and i liked to watch him hunt and eat.
My little guy grew almost 2 feet over the course of a 1.5 yrs.
He grew to have quite an attitude and bit my wife which was not a really nice thing to do.

Once he realized biting was fun it was a pain to take care of him and he bit me once as well.
He developed a health issue and one day rather unexpected he was floating belly up.
I questioned my wife thinking that she laced his grass hoppers with something but she swore she did not!
I did not have the heart to skin him but rather buried him.

Still miss that little mean SOB!

JCG

[skip]

diving cooper river for the first time i was concerned with all the alligators floating about, some less then 6 feet from the small carolina skiff. The boat captain said not to worry, gators only eat in the evening and then attack and drag things from shore, not under the water. we did our dives no worries. a couple of weeks later at home I watched the discovery channel and saw footage of cooper river alligators chasing and catching fish underwater, catching diving birds, and ducks paddling about, all during the day.

skip

[atedeschi]

Thanks everyone for the advice. We dove the last four days without incident. We never saw any gators at the docks we where diving but the dock hands would come over and say they saw them at the docks east or west of us. Debris was the biggest concern and battle. Thanks again.