Alligator at BCV?

[Beth]

Here’s two pictures of the BCV Gator (and friends) from this past Monday.<br><br><br>

<center><img height=300 src="http://worldzone.net/travel/dvcmbr/bcvgator.jpg"></center>
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<center><img height=300 src="http://worldzone.net/travel/dvcmbr/bcvgator1.jpg"></center>
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And I must say I agree with JonHM – don’t feed the gators.

 

[colleen costello]

We did not see the gators at BCV but I wished we had. They are SO cool and we certainly don't have any here in Indiana! I know this is gross but on our last trip we did see alligator roadkill. On July 4th we took a ride to Cocoa Beach and my dh spotted it right on the shoulder of the highway. He was amazed. We see a lot of dead racoons and possums here in the Midwest but NEVER a smushed alligator! I really hope that when we are down in March we see the LIVE one.

Hey Terry, there's a suggestion for your girls-only trip in March -- go Gator-looking! Try to spot one at every DVC property(lol)

Colleen

 

[doubletroublemom]

We'll be there next Friday. My mom is coming with us for the first time. It may be her last if she sees "The Gator". By the way, has anyone named him? How about Walt?

 

[Wes]

I went to look for the gators at BCV about Nov. 20, and they were gone.

One of the security guards at BCV told me that there is a $500 fine for feeding them, and that they now intended to enforce that if they did see anyone feeding gators.

 

[RobDoc]

During our DIScon stay at BCV last weekend, our room was right over the canal bridge and the gator is indeed still there...and guests are still feeding it without any apparent attempt by Disney to halt the practice. There is no signage asking people to NOT feed the gator and I witnessed it being fed daily. The canal is also littered with bread scraps and all sorts of wrapping papers from paper to plastic.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Wes, I'm really glad to hear that you too couldn't find the gator. I was there from 11/23-11/26 and hard as I looked every day (seeing that gator had been on my "must do" list), I never did. So I wonder if he was "unseeable" for a period of time.

 

[DaisyDebbie]

I saw a small one in the canal by the pool along with some turtles last week during Dis-Con. He seemed content just to float along.

 

[DisMNagain]

That is just soooooooo cool!

Can't wait to see if he's there in January! (he or THEY?? LOL)

 

[jjgarv]

We too just saw him during our stay in NOV. Saw him our first day there 11/23. Looked for him everyday but did not see him again until later in the week. Around Weds. 11/27 he was out right by the BCV bridge, just hanging out. I admit we did feed the fish and turtles, but not the gator. he was bigger than I expected. Neices and nephews loved seeing him, it was the only thing we did that week that was free!

 

[Simba's Mom]

Darn it, jjgarv, you checked in the same day as I did. You didn't see some middle-aged lady by herself looking into the canal all the time? It was a solo trip, and like I've said, I really wanted to see that alligator.

 

[Barb]

Beth, those are awesome pictures! I saw the gator while I was there last week. All he did was float. I never really even saw him move! I didn't see anyone feeding him or the turtles, but they're probably the same people that feed the birds and then complain when they get divebombed by a bird wanting more french fries.

 

[d-r]

You know, feeding a gator goes against everything I was ever told growing up, too. When I first read the post about wdw feeding them, my thought was "well, maybe they have some system for keeping them fed, but surely they don't want guests feeding them." But after thinking about it, I doubt that they have a system or some experts out there or anything like that. Feeding gators like that is basically a death sentance for them. People are training them to expect to get food from people and that it is OK to approach people for food. Not a good thing to train a growing gator for, imho.

I wish people would quit feeding those dang birds and ducks, too, holy cow.

DR

 

[Lisa F]

I think the original quote was that the gator was well fed, not that Disney is feeding it people food. The CM said that the canal is well stocked with fish (and you can even see fish in the pictures) so maybe that's what they mean by well fed... there is plenty of natural and easily accessible food nearby and hopefully that will keep the gator from being hungry and cranky enough to attack people. As far as feeding it ham sandwiches and other people food, I think that Disney DOES need to post a warning like they do at AKL about feeding the wildlife! There they make it crystal clear that feeding the animals will get you booted out of there.

Lisa