relic hunter attacked by alligator

[Smurfe]

I just ordered my first detector last night. I live in Southeast Louisiana in an area that is surrounded by alligators and about every swamp critter you can think of. I have a bayou 3 blocks from my house on the backside of my subdivision and less than a 1/4 mile the other direction that likely has gators in it as they feed off of a large bayou bout 4 miles north of me that is known chocked full of gators. There is absolutely no way you would or will ever find me swimming in any of them. I am even leary to detect on the banks which is sad as these areas would/will be prime available areas for me to detect.

 

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[newnan man]

Old abandoned & new sand pits and mines around Sarasota are full of perfect sharks teeth. People need permission which isn't always easy to get. No gators and the teeth are light colored from not being in water.

 

[smallfoot]

Gotta be tough(or maybe just a little touched) to dive anywhere in Flawda. If the body of water is bigger than a pool table it probably has gators...wanna scary dive? Try the St. Johns River...at any point along its way...0 visability and all kinds of God's creatures. I love it!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

This is the time of year when gators mate, not a good time to be in the water at all. Lake Jessup a large lake in Central Florida has over 13,000 gators in it.

 

[islamoradamark]

Fresh water means Gator , leaches , flesh eating bacteria, Amebas

 

[islamoradamark]

lucky that guy has a hard head

 

[CaptEsteban]

I have a couple of friends I used to dive with in the rivers near the S.C. coast. They have made a living selling fossils for years. It IS a dangerous sport/hobby/occupation, but so are many other things foolish men do !!

 

[newnan man]

This is the time of year when gators mate, not a good time to be in the water at all. Lake Jessup a large lake in Central Florida has over 13,000 gators in it.

I cross over Lake Jessup on the 417 bridge quite often. I always see several large gators.

 

[Edgychris1]

This is a messed up story.
I dont think I'd have the balls to go in the same water as an alligator swells in mating season or not.
Wish him well.

I'm glad the only thing I have to be careful if is the mating birds of prey, they are vicious in and of themselves.

Best wishes to this guy!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I cross over Lake Jessup on the 417 bridge quite often. I always see several large gators.

You live in Orlando?

I was driving over the lake on 417 about dusk one evening and thought there was an awful lot of drift wood in lake, as I got to the center of lake I saw that it wasn't drift wood, it was hundreds of gators on the surface.

 

[joshuaream]

I was having coffee yesterday morning and I saw a little 4 or 5 footer cruising the small lake behind our house in the Ft Lauderdale area. Even if you don't see them regularly, you know they are around in fresh water. Of course I called my wife to see it, and she wasn't too pleased because I promised her that this lake was Alligator-free. (I probably should have contained my excitement... We don't have pets, and no one swims in the lake, so no real risk for us from this guy.)

I've seen lots of little ones in the Peace River while fossil hunting. Never bumped into a big one, but I'm sure I've been closer than I realized in the dark water.

 

[smallfoot]

I cross over Lake Jessup on the 417 bridge quite often. I always see several large gators.

A buddy of mine back a few years when the limit on the gator hunts was 5 had the permit drawn that included Lake Jessup. His smallest take that year was 12'-4" out of Jessup.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I was having coffee yesterday morning and I saw a little 4 or 5 footer cruising the small lake behind our house in the Ft Lauderdale area. Even if you don't see them regularly, you know they are around in fresh water. Of course I called my wife to see it, and she wasn't too pleased because I promised her that this lake was Alligator-free. (I probably should have contained my excitement... We don't have pets, and no one swims in the lake, so no real risk for us from this guy.)

I've seen lots of little ones in the Peace River while fossil hunting. Never bumped into a big one, but I'm sure I've been closer than I realized in the dark water.

Same at my house, saw a 5 ft gator swimming behind my house the other day, first one I have seen in 20 years.

 

[newnan man]

You live in Orlando?

I was driving over the lake on 417 about dusk one evening and thought there was an awful lot of drift wood in lake, as I got to the center of lake I saw that it wasn't drift wood, it was hundreds of gators on the surface.

No, I live in Brevard (Indialantic) but most of my work is in the Orlando area. So I commute there. Once I was working in Bushnell so we were staying in a hotel. As we were eating on the patio of a nearby restaurant it began a very hard rain. Suddenly a 5-6 foot gator crawled out of the ditch between the road & sidewalk and sauntered away down the sidewalk like he was out enjoying the rain. Right in the middle of town.

 

[smallfoot]

Think gators are bad, check out this crocodile...

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

No, I live in Brevard (Indialantic) but most of my work is in the Orlando area. So I commute there. Once I was working in Bushnell so we were staying in a hotel. As we were eating on the patio of a nearby restaurant it began a very hard rain. Suddenly a 5-6 foot gator crawled out of the ditch between the road & sidewalk and sauntered away down the sidewalk like he was out enjoying the rain. Right in the middle of town.

Should meet up some time for lunch or a beer.

 

[ARC]

Think gators are bad, check out this crocodile...

We have em both... and alligators aren't any "lesser" an aggressor when it wants.

Thats like saying cougar versus lion. heh

Lake George near the St. Johns River in northwest Florida has the most, with more than 2,300.

 

[dognose]

What type of that fish was that ol' Daniel caught? Good video.

 

[smallfoot]

By the time you get to see any of the fish, well, something in focus and a little less blurry, all you can see is the tail going down the gullet...It looked to be a good one
They called it Barramundi. All I want to know is, now that he has a hook in the crocodile, will we see a filmed battle for the river?

 

[smallfoot]

We have em both... and alligators aren't any "lesser" an aggressor when it wants.

Thats like saying cougar versus lion. heh

Lake George near the St. Johns River in northwest Florida has the most, with more than 2,300.

I don't disagree with you there. That's a sizeable lake... Lake Yale and Lake Griffin might beat it for gator per acre just because of the different sized lakes. I used to run airboats for kicks and grins. Lk Yale is a fair sized lake, but on the east side, there was probably more marsh than open water. You could access the marsh from anywhere along the lake. There was a long narrow strip of high ground that separated the water from the marsh. You climbed up a bank that was maybe 4-5 ft above the water line and dropped the same off the other side in the marsh. Nothing but cat tails and flooded grassland. You could cook thru there and maybe never see another human all day. I was out one afternoon, fishing the shorelines, and not doing any good fishing so I hopped the bank and made a trip thru the marsh. Always a blast. I stayed back there until sundown and by the time I got back to the bank, it was dark thirty. I hit a place that had a gap between trees enough to hop the bank but hit a root going thru. As soon as I hit the lake water, I realized I was taking on water. I pulled the stick and gapped the gas and ran back up the bank and shut it down on top. I was literally teetering on the top because it wasn't a very wide platform I chose. Worked to my advantage tho. I got out, started checking the damage thinking I had a long night in store maybe having to wait on someone to come pick me up on the lake whenever they could get there. After inspecting the hull, I realized I had busted the transom out on the root. Actually, it split the fiberglass at the seam between the transom and hull and I could see light down thru the crack. OKEY DOKEY! I go to the bow, lift it up, prop a branch under it to keep it up slightly, drained all the water out. This is where the "get the hell home" attitude kicks in. Ok, I get in the hatch, I've got some dry clothes in there to mop the fiberglass dry. Being an old phone man I always have some 3M silicone gel with me... Then I found a bag of bread.
I used the bag for a patch, was able to make two thickness with the bag and what silicone I had. Kept checking to see when the silicone hardened up and in about a half hour I was gonna go for broke. I had an old safety helmet rigged for night time fun. I cranked the boat up, stuff the noggen in this helmet and take a sweep of the lake to spot my landmarks on where to head. I've got to make about a mile across open water to get to the ramp. When I made a sweep of the lake, all I could see was gator eyes as far as my light would shine. This where you make the sign of the cross and gap it...I got up on plane and didn't let off till I got to my trailer which was parked way up into the parking lot of the ramp. I drove that fiberglass hull straight up the pavement and onto the trailer.