Gator season is here..............

[Dawg52]

So you want to hunt alligators? Come on down to MS as it's that time of the year. I'll stick to golf.

Record alligator caught in MS River - WLOX.com - The News for South Mississippi

 

[brewer12345]

I thin I like the idea of squirrels, rabbits and game birds a lot better. Much less likely to lose a limb, although the poison ivy I am suffering from makes me wonder if that would not be preferable.

 

[imoldernu]

Our senior community on the Harris Chain of Lakes in FL, has three small lagoons surrounding the clubhouse. Perfect safe and comfortable resting/sunning places for gators. Just a few dozen feet from the lake, and an easy two minute crawl.
The size of the gators varies by year (we've been there 24 years) ... usually 5 to 8 footers, but sometimes a family of five or six. For a few years, our resident gator was about 9 ft. long.
We all know enough not to feed them, and for their part, they choose to stay on the far side of the lagoons. It's a casual relationship, so common that no one even talks about the gators any more.
Only early in the morning, on our walk around the park, do we sometimes have to wait for the gator to cross the road.
We've never had a problem with the gators in the lagoons, but occasionally one takes a walk through the community and we have to call for removal.

I just found a webpage with pics and the story on one of our encounters. I posted it in 2002... surprised it's still available.

Gator Aid

 

[Larro Darro]

After watching FSU's freshman QB roll over Pitt tonight, I thought this was a football thread. But I see it's about the good kind of gators.

Up here in north Florida, we don't see many of the really big ones very often. But a few years back some of the locals, along with a Nascar driver, did get a good sized one. Here is the story from our local paper. Nascar Driver Goes On Gator Hunt - The County Record

 

[Walt34]

Hunting alligators? Y'all have fun! I'll watch on TV. From WV.

 

[martyb]

Our senior community on the Harris Chain of Lakes in FL, has three small lagoons surrounding the clubhouse. Perfect safe and comfortable resting/sunning places for gators. Just a few dozen feet from the lake, and an easy two minute crawl.
The size of the gators varies by year (we've been there 24 years) ... usually 5 to 8 footers, but sometimes a family of five or six. For a few years, our resident gator was about 9 ft. long.
We all know enough not to feed them, and for their part, they choose to stay on the far side of the lagoons. It's a casual relationship, so common that no one even talks about the gators any more.
Only early in the morning, on our walk around the park, do we sometimes have to wait for the gator to cross the road.
We've never had a problem with the gators in the lagoons, but occasionally one takes a walk through the community and we have to call for removal.

I just found a webpage with pics and the story on one of our encounters. I posted it in 2002... surprised it's still available.

Gator Aid

9 footer? Why...that's juts a baby! Come on over to Louisiana, I'll introduce you to a few of our 12-14 footers.

 

[imoldernu]

9 footer? Why...that's juts a baby! Come on over to Louisiana, I'll introduce you to a few of our 12-14 footers.

Hey, Marty... The 9 footer is the one who lived in the park lagoon... "Bubba" is our favorite... almost 13 ft... He lives in a gator hole across Lake Griffin, in the Methodist Campground...

The state did a survey of the lake about 15 years ago, and estimated that there were 1400 gators over 4 ft. long... They said that for every gator over 4 ft. long, there were 3 who would be under 4 ft., making the gator population of just Lake Griffin, (not the full Harris Chain of Lakes) 4,000 gators. We don't swim in the lake.

My buddy was the go-to guy when gators crept up near the homes. He would throw a blanket over the gator, and relocate it in the lake... (just for small gators... 2 or three footers)... until the day when a little guy did a quick swish, and grabbed Eric's hand... Just a little gator, but 28 stitches. Eric doen't do that any more.

 

[skyvue]

I don't know why there is a "gator season" as I would think it should be legal to kill them anytime you want. Why would anyone want alligators in any body of water near them? I obviously don't live in "gator country" but your telling me if one gets in your pond on your farm in Florida you can't just shoot and kill it (regardless of season)?

 

[veremchuka]

Gators were endangered so no hunting was allow so guess what? Their population has exploded and the south is over run with them, ah man knows so well how to "manage" things.

I wouldn't want to hunt these beasts, I've watched a lot of shows and it looks like something I would prefer to avoid!

Now I'd like to hunt/shoot feral hogs. They are a serious menace, in the south mostly, though they are in 39 states. They are a serious pest, Texas now has an open season, no license, kill as many as you please. The damage they do to ranchers' and farmers' land, the damage they do to crops, the damage they do to domestic livestock and pets, the diseases they spread, the damage they do to lawns in surban areas and yes they will EAT YOU TOO rank them as 200-400 pound cockroaches and they reproduce like cockroaches too.

The newest technique is heli hunting from choppers. This is NOT hunting in the true sense folks it is extermination so let's not start with this is not hunting/clean kills - it is kill as many as possible as fast as possible. Stats show you can reduce the population by 70% and they'll be back strong in no time, I forget the time but it isn't long.

Cedar Ridge Aviation Helicopter Pig Hunt (no music) - YouTube

 

[MRG]

The pigs can taste good too. They are terrible animals. Many folks don't know pigs are omnivorous, they eat meat too.

I remember someone throwing a dead squirrel in the pig pen, when they smelled blood, it was scary. I know I've heard stories about someone's Uncle falling down in the pig pen and what happened. Don't know if its documented or a rural legend.

MRG

 

[rbmrtn]

Just ask Hannibal Lecter....

Cordell! - YouTube

 

[MRG]

Somehow I had forgotten that scene!

MRG

 

[travelover]

The pigs can taste good too. They are terrible animals. Many folks don't know pigs are omnivorous, they eat meat too.

I remember someone throwing a dead squirrel in the pig pen, when they smelled blood, it was scary. I know I've heard stories about someone's Uncle falling down in the pig pen and what happened. Don't know if its documented or a rural legend.

MRG

When I was a kid I visited a farm on the day they slaughtered the pigs. The method was a shot to the head then the throat was cut to bleed them out. I was horrified to observe the other pigs rush to drink the blood from the first one down.

 

[eytonxav]

Most folks don't associate gators with Texas, but we have our share of big ones:

Houston area teen bags biggest alligator ever certified in Texas during public hunt | abc13.com

 

[MRG]

I don't know why there is a "gator season" as I would think it should be legal to kill them anytime you want. Why would anyone want alligators in any body of water near them? I obviously don't live in "gator country" but your telling me if one gets in your pond on your farm in Florida you can't just shoot and kill it (regardless of season)?

In the state I live in, yes if a critter is endangering you or livestock it can be dispatched. This includes neighbors dogs, or things considered endangered. But we are not in FL, and don't have gators here.

As said there was a time when there were few left.

Most hunting seasons are organized so that the states game commission can get harvest details. Many times the seasons are aligned with mating seasons. Spring gobbler, deer as part of the fall rut.

My understanding of the timing is that much of the wildlifes need to reproduce is protected from the harvest. Course that might be stuff the conservative department wants me to think.

MRG

 

[martyb]

Most folks don't associate gators with Texas, but we have our share of big ones:

Houston area teen bags biggest alligator ever certified in Texas during public hunt | abc13.com

One of the biggest gators I've ever encountered close-up in the wild (not in captivity) was on the southern end of Toledo Bend Reservoir, on the Texas side of the lake. He or she wan't very far from somebody's house, either. It was laying on the bank, not moving except to blink it's eyes. I fished all around it, & it didn't seem to care. I'd say my boat was maybe 10-12 feet away. Estimate 14 feet. Boat was 18 ft, and it wasn't much smaller than the boat!

 

[MichaelB]

So, I guess I'm the only one here that read the title and thought .. another thread on college football ...

 

[Dawg52]

Saw this in the local paper this morning. And to think, I used to let my old golden retriever go swimming in the lake. Fortunately, most of the gators hang out in the opposite end of the lake. In all the years I have been going out there, I have only seen one little gator, probably 4 feet long.

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