When I lived in S. Florida I used to work as a volunteer docent for the
US Fish & Wildlife Service at the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.
<http://www.fws.gov/loxahatchee/> Gators are everywhere and I lived
with them almost every weekend for 6 years. While I spent much of my
time leading tours through the cypress swamp or kayaking through the
canoe trail I did spend a lot of time alone wandering the edges of the
waterways. In all that time I only ever felt threatened by an alligator
once. That was in the vicinity of a boat ramp where fishermen would
often illegally feed the gators their leftover bait or fish scraps.
After having spent so much time around gators I think I understand them
reasonably well and there are things I will do and will not do. Other
than in a boat or my small kayak, I will never get into the water where
there might be an alligator. In Florida that's just about any natural
body of fresh water. Amongst reptiles in general, size is very
important. If I'm smaller than you I might be lunch. If I'm bigger
than you you might be lunch. So, when encountering gators on land I am
not concerned by those which are clearly smaller than me and they will
often scatter. But gators that are bigger than me I give a fairly wide
safety margin like 15-20 feet if possible. Humans are rarely on the
gator's menu but there are rare exceptions and I prefer not to tempt
fate with really big gators. Gators are a bit uneasy out of water so
those people that do get attacked are usually in the water with the
gator... and they hadn't a clue the gator was there. The other thing I
give a fairly wide berth is a female with young.
So, as to replicating Art Wolfe' behavior, I would only do it under two
circumstances. Either the gators must be smaller than me or the
temperature has to be very low. Even in S. Florida the night and early
morning temperature can get down into the 30's F. in late December or
early January. Gators don't feel so good or move very fast when it gets
that cold. Then we have the advantage.
I've seen a National Geographic photographer (on TV) get into a pool of
large gators at an alligator farm in Orlando. I wouldn't do the same
but those gators are well fed and unlikely to view him as a meal...
especially since a well fed gator may not eat again for a week or more.
But unlikely and never are two different things.
Chuck Norcutt
WayneS wrote:
> At 11:18 AM 1/10/2009, you wrote:
>
> I saw in the latest Outdoor Photography, Art Wolfe was down on the
> ground, just feet away from a congregation of alligators. Now that
> is some nerve. If given the chance, I would probably have done it
> also.
--
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