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Originally Posted by navillusc  Very Important...NEVER FEED THEM!! Feeding them is one of the major accident setups that can be made with gators from what I've seen of news reports. People get used to seeing the gators about, they don't do much...don't move around a lot, just lay there on the shore sunning themselves, and people mentally 'pet' them, give them names like "Old Bob" and throw them food as if they were ducks or squirrels. Well, unlike ducks and squirrels who become a nuisance after they get over their fear of humans, gators have no fear of humans and will snack on unsuspecting small dogs and toddlers, especially if the food supply drops off.
I'd say keep your distance and view them as a possible disaster awaiting execution...in spite of all the 'gator catcher' reality TV shows lately...and get as gator proof a fence as you can afford. 
Oh, and, even if you put up a 8' stockade fence, if you want to maintain a view, maybe you could have your fencing company put some glass, plexi, or lexan 'windows' in it so you can still see the lake. |
excellent advise!! I know in Miami-Dade there are laws and fines relating to feeding gators. I just don't get how people feed any wild animal and then get upset when said animal comes into their yard. That is what I mean by my having some control over my yard.. I will not feed or tempt the gators... at least not knowingly. A couple of years past there were a couple of people killed by gators here.. one was a girl who was sitting in an area with posting of beware there are gators and dangled her feet in the water (I am guessing a bridge ?) and the gator jumped out and got her...the horror was she was on the phone with her mom at the time.
A large dog (a lab) was killed in Key Largo... he was out on the dock behind the house and a croc got him.. and the horror!!! I don't know people had been feeding him or not. So sad
I have a fence.. it is a decorative fence made with bamboo and chicken wire.. I can see the lake. I have thorny plants .. bougainvillea... planted to hide the wire and I think it looks nice. I put the fence about half way down the property, so it is not too close to the water.
When we first moved in the area and Sammy was a puppy he ran into the water... I could see the gator and I almost lost it...I was screaming like a banshee and ran to get him. The gator was far away and didn't even move.. I was so lucky!!!! Fence went up soon after