can i get some advice on camping in fl in general?

[jann1033]

going to sebastian inlet state park and have camped at WDW but to me that is a more controlled environment than a state park..ie wildlife removal mainly..it's not helping a woman just got killed by a gator attack in savannah......
i neurotically put velcro on the electrical pocket in our tent to keep out snakes and spiderrolleyes1 ) but i am a little nervous about hiking , nighttime potty trips, etc...i read something about not going close to water's edge at evening and morning..but how close is close

Help relieve my fears with concrete help if you can

 

[mike k.]

Can't help you on this one.
The FORT'S about as rough as "ROUGHING IT" as i'm ever gonna do in Florida.

 

[Conan the Librarian]

I have camped many times in central Florida (not just at the fort) and have had no problems at all.

I live in Savannah, have all my life, and have never heard of a gator attacking anyone who didn't do something to the gator first. They are rather placid unless provoked or they are very hungry. I am waiting to find out what that woman did to the gator to make it go after her. It couldn't have been hunger, as the area in which it happened is loaded with wildlife and has no hunting. Of course she could have been feeding the gator and not feeding it enough to make it happy.

http://www.wtoctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7193018&nav=menu89_2_4

This is a link from the local news about the attack. Please read the last line very carefully

 

[des1954]

I've camped in Florida (and other places besides FW - really!), since 1974. DH & I have tented in some pretty remote places where you canoe or motor boat to an isolated island, and the ONLY problem we've ever had was at state parks & that was with raccoons. We've never had any trouble with alligators.

Raccoons are very curious creatures and can be double trouble if people think they are cute, cuddly lil' critters and procede to feed them. We actually had raccoons open a metal coleman cooler with a swivel latch & steal our meat. We also had raccoons raid our picnic table & steal bread & snacks right out from under our noses as we were unpacking & setting up camp!! Make sure all your food is locked up - such as in the trunk of your car - so raccoons won't raid & pillage!



Alligators are only dangerous under certain conditions:

1 - You provoke them

2- Stupid people feed them - which is a felony in Florida - due to the fact that a gator is not smart enough to discern between the food it is receiving and the hand it is coming from.

3- Again, stupid people walk their dogs or small pets too close to the edge of a body of water.

4- Yet again, stupid people try to retrieve their golf balls from water hazards.

99.9% of the time a gator will do anything to avoid contact with humans. Same with snakes. General rule of thumb is: You ignore them & they will definitely ignore you.

 

[4mickey2]

i watched a show one day about the gator killings in florida. it was back when i think it was 3 women went missing. they figured the gators were in the water when the women approached the waters edge (all 3 were different killings and in different areas but. within a short time frame).

if you ever watch crocodile hunter you will see gators can jump quite a distance.

they can really go up out of the water. the investigators believed that these gators had done just that. they just sprung out of the water and grabbed their prey. this was during the daylight that they felt the women were out. one was jogging (they believe she went under a bridge by a resevoir to cool down), the other i think had walked to a store (sat by the river for a break, last one was snorkeling..

oh yeah, there were two that were taken from the shore (so, they believed) and one was snorkeling in a river type area. the family had snorkeled in the area before. anyway, me personally, i would stay away from shorelines..

 

[FloridaTeacher]

If you are camping in a campground that is reasonably populated with people (ie. not some foresaken, desolate area), it is highly unlikely that you will encounter an alligator. Alligators will avoid people whenever possible. I would, however, keep my eyes open for snakes as they are much more prevelant.

 

[jann1033]

thanks
i remember the account of the 3 women also and one where a gardener/landscaper was attacked( died due to infection, not the actual attack per say) and that is what made me nervous, the fact they seem to come out of the water and grab you, even though that might not happen all that often and that is why it's "news" ( ie shark attacks)

after reading about all the sharks and gators in the indian river lagoon no way i would ever swim/snorkel in it but don't want them "visiting" my tent either( gators, not thinking the old snl skit about the land sharks)

...there are some hiking trails we planned on going on where i know there are alligators and well, i'll take my hiking stick but not sure how good that would be...not planning on going into any water areas, to me that is just crazy although i have seem people swimming with gators right by them on the banks

our last trip to Charleston SC/James island our site was right near the garbage and those raccoons were so brazen, they would stroll right through our site to get the garbage even with us sitting there! around here they have a problem with them having rabies , not sure about in the south

 

[capegrenier]

Hey! Camping is Fun! When are you going to be at the state park? I was there for 5 nights last February and will be there this February also. I think it depends on what site you have as to the wildlife factor. I never saw any unusual wild life but, (newbies to the camping/rv thing) we had our dogs food container (closed) stolen by something and brought into the woods.. If you have google earth you can zoom in on the campground, it is on a great waterway. You can see the Indian river on one side and the ocean on the other. We had a blast there fishing.
Cape

 

[Shorty82]

around here they have a problem with them having rabies , not sure about in the south

Yep, they have racoons have rabies in Florida also.