Just back - Gator sightings...

[ChefBilly]

Just back from four days at The World.
I'm always interested in seeing gators...
We saw one in the canal at the Yacht Club - twice. Looked big to me, maybe 5 feet. Once it was sunning on the bank and once it was crusing along the top of the water.

And we arrived on the scene just after two CMs on jet skis spotted an unusually large one on Bay Lake. They claimed 11-12 feet. It had been hanging out by the dry dock, but had recently moved closer to the old Discovery Island. Evidently this was becoming a problem.

Tell me about your gator sightings...

 

[Baloo]

Besides Mickey Mouse gators are one of my favorite thing to see while in Florida!!!

We saw one several times ,two summers ago in the lake at CS.He was about 4 foot long. We've also "heard" them at night in the MK around the castle and while walking on the Epcot side around the lake at the Boardwalk.

 

[liznboys]

11 or 12 feet!! OMG that's huge!

 

[ChefBilly]

Originally posted by liznboys
11 or 12 feet!! OMG that's huge!

Yeah, they were definitely concerned. It was going to have to be dealt with, a CM told me.

 

[Hockeychic]

on a day trip to the Kennedy Space Center, also 2 Bald Eagles in a nest they have near the launch pad.

Very cool for some tourists from Canada to see the Bald Eagles.

 

[WDWmaniac125]

Living in Florida, I'm used to seeing gators. We have one in the canal of our backyard.

 

[airhead]

This is not a good thing.

 

[RLewis]

First, Universal opened a new park, and Disney, concerned about losing a few guests, immediately opened MGM.

Next, they opened AK to ward off Busch Gardens.

As water parks and mini-golf popped up in the area, WDW expanded with TL, BB and Winter/Summerland.

Now, the final piece in the Disney empire - coming in 2005 . . .
the truth about the IASW retro-fit . . .

Tick-Tock's Gater-rama!!!

Finally, the Gaterland threat is put to rest.

 

[Epcotgal8]

No, I'm not a gator expert but from living in an area with them I've got to tell ya, the fact that the gators are coming out in the areas of WDW that I have read of recently and sometimes in broad daylight is not good. Gators usually retreat to the outskirts of lakes and tend to stay away from boats and people. They usually come out at night but usually stay where there's a food source. Of course there are bound to be gators in Fla. and I can definitely see the area over by Disovery Island, Fort Wilderness etc. but sunning itself near the YC and a photo here on DIS the other day of one right near the ferry dock at MK? It makes me wonder if people are feeding them. When they get that comfortable with people some say, "Oh he wouldn't hurt a fly." But if they are accustomed to being fed in an area and is hungry they are not safe to go near so keep a safe distance from them when you see them!

 

[ChefBilly]

About the one at the Yacht Club: I was telling someone about it, and she said that gator in particular is well known. Guests have even named it.

But I'm with you - I wouldn't go near it. Being from N.H. it looked gigantic to me.

 

[Pinnie]

We have been seeing that gator at the Beach Club Villas a lot over the last 2 years. He/she seems to like to hang out near the walkway near the quiet pool.

pinnie

 

[sters]

Originally posted by Pinnie
We have been seeing that gator at the Beach Club Villas a lot over the last 2 years. He/she seems to like to hang out near the walkway near the quiet pool.

pinnie

O-M-G !!! I wouldn't want to stumble over a gator on my way to the pool. That's really scary.

 

[NotUrsula]

As the saying goes, there is a word for any gator that has been given handouts by humans: dead. There is no such thing as a really tame American Alligator. I grew up in Louisiana bayou country, and I know some people who tried to domesticate them, but it doesn't work. They are all about food, and if they are hungry, they will kill anything small that they can get their teeth into. "Small" should be interpreted as, "not as big as the gator."

You REALLY don't want them to lose their fear of people, it makes them dangerous. They are faster than we are. I know they don't look it, but they are. (*Never* get closer to a gator than 3X his body length--one good lunge and he'll be on top of you.) If for some reason you must walk within less than about 50 ft. of one, don't walk in a straight line; zigzag. They are very fast, but they don't turn so well on land.

That said, they are usually quite lazy and are content to sit still unless they have a reason to move. They are not active hunters, but if hungry, they will take an opportunity if it lands right next to them. It is important to know that they can go from sleepy immobility to snapping jaws in the blink of an eye, so don't decide to test just how lazy a given animal is.

 

[Pinnie]

Sters,

That BCV gator is in a canal and visible from the walkway. It would be hard pressed for him to get OUT of there. I am sure the pool is very safe.

pinnie

 

[sters]

I read this on another forum... more sitings!

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?threadid=39636



Thanks Pinnie.... I was imagining the gator sitting on the walkway from hotel to pool.

 

[noopy]

This makes me a little frightened of taking my
6 yr old DD out in a water mouse again. We tend to go slow because speed scares her. Should I be concerned?

 

[candlestix]

Originally posted by Baloo
Besides Mickey Mouse gators are one of my favorite thing to see while in Florida!!!

We saw one several times ,two summers ago in the lake at CS.He was about 4 foot long. We've also "heard" them at night in the MK around the castle and while walking on the Epcot side around the lake at the Boardwalk.

What do they "sound" like?

Just curious in case we hear one

 

[NotUrsula]

Here is a website that has audio files of the different sounds they make. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/brittoncrocs/croccomm.html

The sound you would probably hear one make at WDW would be a warning cough. A courtship bellow would definitely get your attention, it is LOUD. However, they usually only mate in the wee hours of the morning when it's quiet, so you are unlikely to hear one of those unless you are out before dawn near a quiet body of water.

 

[airhead]

NO WAY would I be in any body of fresh water in WDW or ANYWHERE in Florida!! Seems these creatures are everywhere.
Just another reason I will never move to the sunshine state!!!!

 

[elmo2wdw]

Here is a link to pictures we took the last week of April at the MK. The gator was in the water near Tom Sawyers Island. It was 4-5 feet long. Animal Control was coming to get it because it was about to come on the walkway in Frontierland.

We saw another one last week in the same area this one was bigger 5-6 feet in length. We have pictures but my DH hasn't put them up yet.

www.geocities.com/elmo2wdw/gator.html