Had a friend visit today!!

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Oct 21, 2009
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Well not so much, but here goes. Was at work today and got a text from my neighbor, there was a pic attached. Turns out a 10 plus foot gator came to say hi, he was hanging out in the yard near my garage, my house is the red one. It's mating season for them here and he was wondering looking for a girlfriend. Well he was still there when I got home along with half the neighborhood, police. The game wardens came out as well and a team of gator catchers. Needless to say he was a tad pissed when they tried to move him. Eventually they tired him out and removed him from the area. Was a fun day for sure, they are so cool up close. But I usually work in the garage and the garbage can is on that side, I would have screamed like a little girl if I walked out and saw him right there LOL. Well at least it wasnt a Beaver :D.
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That's a fine looking animal but no thanks cuz that's too close for comfort :eek:. I'll stick with coyotes and the occasional black bear I get in my neighborhood but just look at all those wallets and shoes though....... Kidding ;)
 
Gosh durn that's a big one! You close to water? Gators like water right?
 
That is a beautiful animal. I assume and hope that the game wardens release him in a suitable habitat, preferably not too far away. Some catch-and-release operations are fatal to the animal because they end up someplace where there is too much competition, usually from their own kind. Gators, though, are pretty tough and adaptable, so he (or she?) will probably be ok.
 
Yeah he definitely is too close for comfort, lots of pets and little ones around here.
Bawanna I do live somewhat close to a large river and the ocean as well. This time of year the males will travel pretty far looking for a mate. My neighborhood has several man made ponds in which a gator will pop up here and there, but anything over 6 foot long has to be removed for the safety of the residence, a gator of that size can easily take a pet or even a child if it wanders to close. It's just part of living here, they normally will leave you alone and have a natural fear of humans, but one that size does not fear much of anything.
As far as the capture, the company that came out to get him is known for its release methods, they will take him far enough away he shall not likely come back, if he was a nuisance gator he would have to have been euthanized by law, but not the case today, he was just hanging out.
 
Ha! Dang Pugs theres a few pairs of skute boots and lots of gumbo right there! Glad it ended well. Pretty scary tho aint it? Thats a pretty big un.
My mom in law lives on Taylors Bayou in TX and they are regular occurrence there. The bayou is about thirty feet from the house if that. One day I was going to my car and one was between the cars and I didnt see it till I was about five feet from it. It hissed at me and i was GONE! Another time after a flood I opened the back door to the patio to go outside and dang near stepped on one. The water was all the way up to the last step and the gator was sunning on the top step! They cant be considered nuisance there because they were there before we were and theres too many of them. Still scarry when you come up on one unexpectedly.
 
I suspect the locals get accustomed to keeping their eyes open and not dropping their guard.
I worked fence over in Eastern Washington where they have a lot of snakes. The job shack had a stick by the door and anytime you went out, you ran the stick under the steps to make sure there weren't a rattler under there.
Often forgot to do it but the locals would never forget and always remind you. They ended up hiring a guy just to walk ahead and all around the work area to clear snakes.
Didn't like that job much.
 
Well not so much, but here goes. Was at work today and got a text from my neighbor, there was a pic attached. Turns out a 10 plus foot gator came to say hi, he was hanging out in the yard near my garage, my house is the red one. It's mating season for them here and he was wondering looking for a girlfriend. Well he was still there when I got home along with half the neighborhood, police. The game wardens came out as well and a team of gator catchers. Needless to say he was a tad pissed when they tried to move him. Eventually they tired him out and removed him from the area. Was a fun day for sure, they are so cool up close. But I usually work in the garage and the garbage can is on that side, I would have screamed like a little girl if I walked out and saw him right there LOL. Well at least it wasnt a Beaver :D.
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arCHKVQ.jpg
That is crazy! Interesting it happened at the time it did. Kind of adds a cool story to the gator sheath you have in the works. I got married in South Carolina and spent my honeymoon there. We got some bikes and went looking for gators. Here I am when I was slightly younger, and dumber, and closer than I should have been.

Some spikes and eyes poking out of the water behind me.

I suspect the locals get accustomed to keeping their eyes open and not dropping their guard.
I worked fence over in Eastern Washington where they have a lot of snakes. The job shack had a stick by the door and anytime you went out, you ran the stick under the steps to make sure there weren't a rattler under there.
Often forgot to do it but the locals would never forget and always remind you. They ended up hiring a guy just to walk ahead and all around the work area to clear snakes.
Didn't like that job much.
Where's St. Patrick when you need him?
 
Ha! Dang Pugs theres a few pairs of skute boots and lots of gumbo right there! Glad it ended well. Pretty scary tho aint it? Thats a pretty big un.
My mom in law lives on Taylors Bayou in TX and they are regular occurrence there. The bayou is about thirty feet from the house if that. One day I was going to my car and one was between the cars and I didnt see it till I was about five feet from it. It hissed at me and i was GONE! Another time after a flood I opened the back door to the patio to go outside and dang near stepped on one. The water was all the way up to the last step and the gator was sunning on the top step! They cant be considered nuisance there because they were there before we were and theres too many of them. Still scarry when you come up on one unexpectedly.

Lol I was sizing him up for sure, but he had the high road!! You definitely have to be aware around here.
 
That is crazy! Interesting it happened at the time it did. Kind of adds a cool story to the gator sheath you have in the works. I got married in South Carolina and spent my honeymoon there. We got some bikes and went looking for gators. Here I am when I was slightly younger, and dumber, and closer than I should have been.

Some spikes and eyes poking out of the water behind me.


Where's St. Patrick when you need him?

LOL funny I was thinking the same, figuring he was out for revenge for his bro who's in the garage. There pretty plentiful as you probably saw when you were here.
 
Lol, I literally had as a first thought.....

Which if my edged weapons would I use to kill that sucker if i had to.......

(Answer, my Poll Axe)...

Since I might not want to shoot a gun in town.....

And my compound bow is broken......

A guy up here killed a cougar with a spear a while ago.......
 
You'd have to get awfully close to take an edged weapon to a gator. And I think the edge would just skate off the scales. Maybe an axe would work, and maybe it wouldn't, and then you're standing (probably off-balance) next to a beast with millions of years of evolutionary advantage over us. Probably point first is the way to go, but then you have to get even closer. Might be best to go your own way and let the gator go his own way. Unless he's after you, and then the question is, how fast can you run?

Humans might be the dominant species on earth, but the gator doesn't know that.
 
I live by the motto, they dont bother me, I wont bother them!! So far its working lol. He really was just hanging out resting, but at that size he can take just about anything he wants and he knows it, so for the safety of the residents and pets he had to go and I bet he's much happier in his new place.
 
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