Via Reddit.
They are coming out of their holes to warm up and get a tan.
Here is a great summary by Redditor PepticBurrito:
Gators don’t attack people all that often. I grew up in Florida surrounded by them. Considering just how many gators there are in FL, including where millions of people live, the amount of actual attacks are very low. You’re more likely to get killed in a car accident than by a gator.
In general, humans are too big. They prefer smaller targets. That being said, they’ll drown you if you’re swimming in the wrong place.
If you hear their babies, find somewhere else to be because mom will kill you without hesitation. Don’t go swimming with them. Don’t walk your 4 pound dog near them (the number of new arrivals from the NE US whose lose Fluffy to a gator is a little high). If your fishing, be mindful of what you’re doing.
Treat them like the predator they are and don’t do something stupid that begins with the sentence “hold my beer”.
I think that pretty much covers it.
PS: Mating season is soon…
“If your fishing, be mindful of what you’re doing.” That goes for editing, also. 😉
I am quoting verbatim.. saves you troubles 🙂
About 25 years ago a gator killed someone around Lake Tarpon, and a Florida Fish & Wildlife spokesman said on TV that he personally would never enter any body of fresh water anywhere in Florida. When I lived in NE Florida a few years ago, every retention pond had its own gator. And, of course, they are used to solve burglaries in Brevard County.
My personal gator policy is, I leave them alone, and hope they follow the Golden Rule.
Friend of mine is fond to say that once you enter any body of water (fresh or salt) in Florida, you must remember you are no longer on top of the food chain.
Truer words were never spoken.
I know I’ve said it before but one of the most memorable encounters with a gator I ever had was while walking around the neighborhood one night. At the retention pond in the next neighborhood over, there was about a 4 or 5 foot gator climbing the fence. Never seen that before, never heard of it, but… day-um.
People that actually *live* in north Florida – – as I did, for the first 17 years of my life – – have a respect for the gators, but we also are able to figure percentages and odds. There are plenty of large lakes and rivers in the north of Florida that can be entered in comparative safety, and the odds of a gator attack are up there with the odds of getting struck by lightning – – or getting attacked by a shark at the beach, for an even better example.
Like most dangerous things you don’t have to fear them but you do have to respect them.