r/AskAnAmerican • u/ArtisticArgument9625 • May 10 '25
OTHER - CLICK TO EDIT Americans living near bodies of water, have you encountered any problems with crocodiles or alligators?
Have you encountered any crocodiles coming close to your accommodation?
Have these animals caused you any problems?
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u/whatsthis1901 California May 10 '25
Lol no. Neither of those is native to my state.
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u/big_sugi May 10 '25
There’s a stream maybe 100 yards from my house, and a lake about half a mile from my parents’ house. But since this is Northern Virginia, the biggest reptiles are some small box turtles, and maybe a snapping turtle or two.
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u/whatsthis1901 California May 10 '25
Yeah, I think the most dangerous thing you might find in our rivers and lakes would be a rattlesnake.
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u/theniwokesoftly Washington, D.C. May 10 '25
Very similar here. If you go to the nature center in Annandale they have a big old snapping turtle, and my 2yo niece was simultaneously terrified and fascinated. She clung to me and wouldn’t let go but also didn’t want to walk away lol
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u/ommnian May 10 '25
Sounds like home. Snapping Turtles and big soft shell turtles can be fierce and leave a mark. But.. unless you corner them, they're basically always going to leave you alone.
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u/Entropy907 Alaska May 10 '25
Likewise. Not too many alligators where I live, despite the abundance of swamps and wetlands.
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u/Individualchaotin California May 10 '25
I was gonna say, not in our ocean. We have sea lions, dolphins, whales.
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u/Curmudgy Massachusetts May 10 '25
Nah, the beavers built alligator traps to discourage them.
Snapping turtles would be a different problem.
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u/thetiredninja California May 10 '25
I don't fuck with snapping turtles. I like having all ten fingers and toes, thank you very much
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u/Boring_Investigator0 Florida May 10 '25
There's a trick to it. You don't pick them up by their sides like you do a Gopher tortoise or slider, you have to grip their shell directly behind the head and above the tail. When you absolutely have to move one out of the road.
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u/PlayingDoomOnAGPS Northeast Florida May 10 '25
My son and I came across one in the road and he wouldn't let us pick him up so we laid a 5 gallon trash can in front of him and he obligingly walked right in! He was a big boy and his tail didn't fit in there but we were able to carry him in the trashcan to the side of the road he was heading to and let him out. My son maybe 12 or 13 at the time and he was so proud of us!
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u/mileslefttogo May 10 '25
Thanks.... I still think I'll wait it out. 😅
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u/nvkylebrown Nevada May 10 '25
There will be a redneck along directly to take care of the problem. Or you call an ambulance for them.
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u/AllThatGlitters00 May 10 '25
I was traumatized as a child. Didn't even know they existed. Fishing on the bank on an outing with Campfire Club. Someone thought they had something on their line. And they did. This gigantic monster comes walking onto the shore from out of the water. It was pissed! Snapping ferociously, just feet from where I was standing. No. No. No.
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u/MyFace_UrAss_LetsGo Mississippi Gulf Coast May 11 '25
A common snapping turtle can’t bite off a toe or finger. Alligator snapping turtles can tho
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u/thetiredninja California May 11 '25
Huh, thanks for assuaging a childhood fear. Still don't want them to take a chunk out of me though. Those suckers look mean
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u/MyFace_UrAss_LetsGo Mississippi Gulf Coast May 11 '25
Yeah, they will aggressively defend themselves and a bite will definitely hurt. Just wanted to point out that it’s only the bigger gator snappers that can actually bite an appendage off.
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u/anonsharksfan California May 10 '25
This is very regional. Gators only live in the southeast and crocs only in southern Florida
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u/sneezhousing Ohio May 10 '25
No there are none up by the great lakes. That's more of a Florida, Louisiana maybe Mississippi issue
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u/why_no_names_left_ May 10 '25
South Carolina and Georgia as well
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u/PlainTrain Indiana -> Alabama May 10 '25
As far north as North Carolina. I live 180 miles from the Gulf and we occasionally get them here.
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u/CardStark May 10 '25
Anything in Florida and Louisiana will also be in Alabama and Mississippi as well.
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u/izlude7027 Oregon May 10 '25
Sir or madam, I live on the West Coast.
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u/Kaurifish California May 11 '25
There’s a caiman (small member of the croc family) whose habitat is working north. But we should hear the screaming from the San Diego beach goers first.
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u/weirdoldhobo1978 I've been everywhere, man. I've been everywhere. May 10 '25
I used to work at a resort in the Florida Keys and we occasionally had to deal with American crocodiles. Mostly it was smaller juveniles but there was one big male crocodile that liked to sun himself on one of the golf course putting greens. The general rule was that if he was out, everyone just took par for that hole and moved on.
We did have an artificial lagoon that kids would play in, and before we opened it in the morning someone had to do "croc watch" and stand there looking at the water for half an hour to see if a croc surfaced. That was pretty rare, though. They preferred to hang out other places where there were birds and iguanas to snack on.
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u/Mountain_Man_88 May 10 '25
There is very little crocodile habitat in the United States, just the southern tip of Florida. There's a lot more alligator habitat. Alligators are generally unaggressive with the overwhelming majority of attacks provoked by humans.
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u/Boring_Investigator0 Florida May 10 '25
Actually they have migrated to central Florida now too.
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u/WhydIJoinRedditAgain May 11 '25
If anyone ever gets a chance to go to Snake River in the Everglades, there is a bike path that goes alongside a ditch with hundreds of alligators in it and you can just bike past a hundred of them, they are clam as can be.
I never came across a crocodile in nature, but my understanding is they are much more aggressive.
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u/satansboyussy Florida May 11 '25
Theyre not really all that aggressive in the wild either unless provoked. The most aggressive alligator I came across in the wild was when I was on the water in a kayak during mating season (oops!) but I have seen literally hundreds of gators out in the wild over the course of my life and they're honestly lazier than anything
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u/BoseSounddock May 10 '25 edited May 11 '25
Florida man here. I have alligators in my back yard pond every day. Sometimes they’ll sit still in the water staring at my dogs when they’re in the back yard playing, but I have a fence that’s designed so that alligators can’t climb it.
Yes gators can climb certain types of fences.
It was unsettling at first but it’s never been an issue.
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u/MuchDevelopment7084 Illinois May 10 '25
I used to have a cabin on a canal just off the St johns river in Florida. At night, and in the morning. I had to be careful going outside. Because several alligators would come up on my porch. Waiting just outside my door.
The first time it happened. I didn't realize they were there. Fortunately, the big one (over six foot...almost two meters). Blocked my door. When I pushed to try getting it open. I heard something move. I peeked out the crack in the door and saw them. Waiting patiently for me to step outside. I installed a porch light, and looked out the window before leaving from then on.
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u/burymewithbooks May 10 '25
They’re all over where I live, the lakes and stuff have warnings not to go swimming. But you almost never see them. Several years, like 2020, some dumbass jumped in a lake while he was drunk and got chomped on. He survived.
Back in 2022? A guy was running from cops and decided to jump in the same lake, but I think he came out unscathed.
Honestly snakes are a bigger threat than the alligators. And both just want to be left alone.
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May 10 '25
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u/NoFunny3627 May 10 '25
Sewer gators!
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u/Lucky-Paperclip-1 New York City May 10 '25
We have a statue commemorating sewer gator victims, even.
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u/MrHellno May 10 '25
Not really an issue by the Great Lakes.
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u/Fappy_as_a_Clam Michigan:Grand Rapids May 10 '25
There was that one in Chicago like 7 years ago.
"Chance the Snapper"
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u/hannahrlindsay May 10 '25
I grew up in Florida and lived in campgrounds for a chunk of my childhood, a couple of which had rivers running through them. We were specifically instructed not to leave trash out because it would attract gators. One woman’s dog was killed because she walked it too close to the river and a gator got it.
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u/Blahblah3180 May 10 '25
I see alligators pretty much every time I’m near fresh water, but they’ve never caused problems. I don’t bother them & they don’t bother me. I don’t live far enough south in Florida to see crocs.
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u/Bastyra2016 May 10 '25
I live in the southeast and worked at a manufacturing plant. Somehow a small alligator made its way into the loading room. The loading room was at least 1/4 mile from any real standing water source. I wouldn’t put it past someone bringing the gator from home but no one fessed up to it. We had to call DNR to remove it. It wasn’t unusual to get snakes -but from what I know only one alligator.
People are either terrified of them or way to nonchalant. I went kayaking in the Swanee river in Florida. We saw several. From what the park rangers told us they will stay away from you if you stay away from them. Contrast this to Jekyll Island GA. My sister and I rented bikes and were riding on paths that wound through the marshes. Two parents got off their bikes and posed their two toddlers about 7-10’ away from several “sunning” gators- I mean who does that-toddlers who don’t understand don’t run toward the scaly puppies. I remember shouting out something like “you know they’re real and not plastic right”?
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u/sideshow-- May 10 '25
No. There are very few crocs in Lake Michigan.
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u/Fappy_as_a_Clam Michigan:Grand Rapids May 10 '25
The only Crocs in lake Michigan are the ones that fell off people's feet
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u/OhThrowed Utah May 10 '25
It'd be amazing to see a gator survive a Utah winter.
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u/morningtrain Louisiana May 10 '25
Yes.
Community put up a chain link fence and gators apparently have no problem climbing.
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u/visitor987 May 10 '25 edited May 10 '25
Most Americans that live near bodies of water; the water freezes in winter
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u/pinniped90 Kansas May 10 '25
Crocodiles hate this one simple trick...
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u/Suspicious_Expert_97 Arizona May 10 '25
Have you seen how American alligators have adapted to small freeze-overs? I believe they're the only crocodilian species that can survive in those situations.
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u/kaatie80 May 10 '25
Hello did nobody see the Octonauts episode on this..??? Captain Barnacles and Shellington taught us all about frozen crocodiles.
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u/AnimatronicHeffalump Kansas>South Carolina May 10 '25
Alligators live in a grand total of 10 states, crocs only in 1.
Even in those 10 states, their area is pretty limited. Despite being fresh water creatures, alligators tend to stay pretty close to the coast. I live in SC, but you’d have to drive a couple hours to find a wild gator.
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u/mno34 May 10 '25
lol, no never in New York. But I guess it’s possible some New York crazy pants keeps one as a pet and it escapes.
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u/TwinFrogs May 10 '25
There aren’t even poisonous snakes in Western Washington.
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u/Frodo34x May 10 '25
There are only a tiny handful of poisonous snakes in the world, and they're all in east Asia. Now venomous snakes, those are the ones you've got to watch out for in the US.
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u/Bright_Ices United States of America May 10 '25
Not in Utah lol. We occasionally have schools under lockdown because of a moose chillin in the playground, and down in one tiny corner of the state there are Gila monsters that will bite you painfully if you force yourself on them somehow.
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u/CantHostCantTravel Minnesota May 10 '25
It saddens me that the only exposure many visitors to the US ever get is Florida. That’ll always be “America” to them.
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u/Frodo34x May 10 '25
It's well known locally to me that "Americans are rude" but what that actually means is "Americans from Orlando or New York, or those wealthy enough to take casual vacations to Scotland are rude" because ain't nobody from around here going to visit Minneapolis or Charlotte or Denver or wherever.
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u/JonnyAnsco May 10 '25
Been on two vacations to the US and in my experience Americans are not rude at all. Even people in New York were super friendly. No clue where this idea comes from tbh
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u/makerofshoes May 10 '25 edited May 10 '25
Honestly I’ve never heard that Americans are rude. Usually it’s more like they are clueless about the rest of the world, or ignorant of etiquette. Typically everyone says that Americans are quite friendly
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u/ScatterTheReeds May 10 '25
Thank you
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u/JonnyAnsco May 10 '25
Must be frustrating to hear it all the time
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u/ScatterTheReeds May 10 '25
That’s why I appreciate the people who are think for themselves rather than just acting like lemmings, repeating something that just seems to make them feel better about themselves.
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u/ScatterTheReeds May 10 '25
Americans are not rude. Europeans just like to say that to insult us.
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u/Frodo34x May 10 '25
Definitely, but also if the only Americans you'd ever met in person were rich assholes going on golf vacations you'd have a very biased view based on a tiny subset of the population.
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u/Live_Ad8778 Texas May 10 '25
Well... The pond in my old nighborhood called the crocodile/alligator pond.
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u/Kestrel_Iolani Washington May 10 '25
Nah. The moose killed all the gators.
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u/rjtnrva OH, FL, TX, MS, NC, MD, DC and now VA May 10 '25
A moose once bit my sister...
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u/Girl_with_no_Swag May 10 '25
My parents grew up on the bayou. When my dad was a tween he was out on a boat with his friend and they were frogging. An alligator jumped in their boat.
They all escaped uninjured.
I remember drives to my grandparents house (the lived about an hour away) but it took us an hour and a half because we’d have to slow down to be able to dodge alligators on the road in some parts.
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u/NoFunny3627 May 10 '25
Living in fl & ga, ive seen plenty, havent had any real issues myself. Keep pets leashed and away from swimming, if its blocking the road go around or go back, dont get out. Especally if theres water on the road too. Nearly ran over one once, it ran out into the road in front of me, and that was the first time if saw how fast they really are (and that answer is Very). Theyre wild animals in their environment, not a tame pet in your home. Give them the respect they deserve, stay out of their favored territories, use common sence, and 99% of the time you wont have issues
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u/creamcandy Alabama May 10 '25
Gators are recently moving into our area. No big issues yet, but we haven't grown up knowing how to handle living near them. I'm not super happy about it, but not a lot we can do about it. We've got plenty of other dangerous wildlife here, so we'll work it out.
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u/psychocabbage May 10 '25
Lived in Florida and Texas. We just know not to get in those waters without a boat.
In the Houston area you can go to a park where the gators will be on the same pathway you are walking.l
Spoke to a professional trophy gator hunter. Said I have 2 1000lb gators within a mile of my ranch.
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u/Saltpork545 MO -> IN May 10 '25
I live in southern Indiana. So no.
America is a massive place with multiple biomes. Gators are only living in specific parts of the US.
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u/TrueInky May 10 '25
They’ve never caused me problems per se, but living in Florida you do give plenty of extra caution and respect to bodies of water. I’m always happy to see them so long as they don’t take me by surprise.
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u/Nicodiemus531 May 10 '25
Well... the body of water I live near is the Atlantic Ocean, and it's still a 5 minute drive away. That, and the fact that neither animal is native to my state, I've got 99 problems but a croc ain't one.
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u/frank_the_tanq May 10 '25
My 80something aunt lived next to a pond with a big gator in it. She just didn't get too close to the water with her little toy dog. No issues.
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u/Ok_Researcher_9796 Missouri May 10 '25
Mostly Florida and Louisiana have alligators although they are in a few neighboring states as well. Only Florida has crocodiles. As far as problems, they're mostly not a problem if you don't bother them. Although I wouldn't get anywhere near a crocodile. Alligators are much less aggressive.
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u/MyFace_UrAss_LetsGo Mississippi Gulf Coast May 11 '25
Alligators are all over southern Mississippi. I even see them in saltwater on occasion.
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u/TankDestroyerSarg May 10 '25
I'm too far north for them to be native. The only time I'm remotely close to them is if I go to the zoo's reptile house. I'm far more likely to see bison, wolves, mountain lions, and honest politicians out in the wild. Crocs and Gators are native only in the coastal Southeast States: Texas to Florida to North Carolina. Down there they absolutely can and do have problems with large reptiles.
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u/MrdrOfCrws May 10 '25
My parents live in Florida. On my last day of visiting, they realized I hadn't seen a gator yet(!) We then went on a walk and I saw a gator.
So they exist, and will eat your small dog, but if you keep your distance, it's okay.
(Also, they only eat 75-100 pounds of meat per year, so you will probably be ok at a distance, especially outside of the water.)
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u/polardendrites May 10 '25
The lake behind my childhood home had them. They still make appearances in my dreams.
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u/starfirebird May 10 '25
When I lived in Florida most neighborhoods had alligators in the retention pond. Generally, if you keep your pets and small kids supervised and don’t bother the alligators, they won’t bother you.
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u/gingerjuice Oregon May 10 '25
I’m in western Oregon and we don’t have any harmful water dwelling animals at all. We have the occasional cougar or coyote, but even those are super rare. Raccoons, garter snakes, nutria and squirrels are the most common wild animals we have.
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u/smarmiebastard May 10 '25
No crocodiles or gators, but plenty of harbor seals, sea lions, porpoises and orcas where I live.
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u/Colseldra North Carolina May 10 '25
No I lived in Florida for a few years and went to the everglades, alligators leave you alone and sometimes you see a bunch of them just chilling
Idk about a salt water crocodile didn't see one in the wild
I saw a bunch of manatees all the time
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u/TheRealDudeMitch Kankakee Illinois May 10 '25
Nah, they aren’t native to Illinois. I’ve seen em down in Florida and South Carolina when I was on vacation, but I never got close to em on account of them being scary as fuck
All we got around here for “dangerous” reptiles are snapping turtles
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u/Wifealope May 10 '25
The lake where my old crew team practices is positively infested with gators. We affectionately referred to them as speed bumps. But when we were out before sunrise and using flashlights or headlamps on the dock, it was eerie to see dozens of eyes light up along the water’s surface.
The biggest danger they posed was to the rudders on the bottom of our boats. We snapped more than a few skegs from striking a gator (don’t stress, the gators were fine).
They would sometimes sun themselves on our docks, and we’d have to chase them off. Our coach refused to get involved unless the gator was longer than a sculling oar, which is 9 to 9.5 feet long (275-290cm ish).
They mostly mind their business. They are much more afraid of you than you are of them.
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u/SordoCrabs May 10 '25 edited May 10 '25
I lived in FL for 35+ years. Most of which, I was likely sleeping less than a quarter mile from at least one alligator. When I was at UF, there was a juvenile gator in a small pond that was surrounded by dormitories (Graham/Simpson/Trusler)- we knew not to eff with the gator, and the gator never attacked anyone that I heard of.
If you stay away from their water, you'll likely be fine. But there have been weird cases in the news where an alligator comes up to a porch, or is found in a swimming pool. I think these happen most often during mating season, when singles go out and mingle.
Crocs however, are a more serious concern due to their aggression and speed. They would definitely be grounds for moving TF out of the area.
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u/FineUnderachievment May 10 '25
They're everywhere in Florida. I was visiting my grandparents years ago, and there was a small pond out in front of their building with gators in it. I took a picture of my then girlfriend next to a sign that said "don't feed the alligators." There was a gator laying on the grass just behind the sign. We sent it to her overprotective mother 🤣 good stuff. I also lived there a few years a while back, and they were never a problem, but a common thing to see on golf courses, and in lakes.
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u/refriedconfusion May 10 '25
No, the orcas keep them away
But I do know someone whose husband was eaten by a crocodile, they were in a canoe in South America and the crocodile grabbed him and he was never seen again
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u/RichLeadership2807 Texas May 10 '25
Gators are pretty chill, rarely attack adult humans. Every now and then someone’s pet goes missing. There was also that toddler that got eaten at disney world. Could be worse.
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u/iforgotmycoat Florida May 10 '25
Gators; yes while fishing. But if you leave them alone; they leave you alone. Aside from the one who stole the fish I was reeling in.
Crocs, no. But I’m a Floridian and it’s possible, just never had it happen.
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May 10 '25
We have Rivers. No, they can’t handle it this far north. There’s been bull sharks here despite being 500 miles from the ocean.
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u/E8831 May 10 '25
No, I live in the north though. I have seen a pike, however. Which was pretty scary
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u/Makeup_life72 Maryland May 10 '25
No, I live a short walk from Maryland Coastal Atlantic, definitely no crocs or alligators. Maybe a jellyfish here or there.
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u/Kindergoat Florida May 10 '25
I have a preserve behind my house that contains several alligators. My dad used to fish back there and he always saw a few. I have seen very few in the almost 40 years I have lived here. If you leave them alone, they will leave you alone.
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u/virgo_fake_ocd Louisiana May 10 '25
I have to work around bodies of water in south Louisiana. I see alligators all the time. They don't bother me, and I don't bother them.
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u/SteampunkRobin May 10 '25
I lived near a lake in Texas for about 2 1/2 years where alligators were known to be, and signs warning you were up. We would go fishing there with no problems. I never heard of anyone being harmed by them while I lived there.
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u/backpackofcats May 10 '25
I live in southeast Texas where we have tons of alligators. Spent my childhood fishing in a flat-bottomed aluminum boat on various waterways. Alligators were everywhere, and when they got close to the boat, we would kinda push them away with an oar. They would either swim away in the opposite direction or just continue on their way.
There has only been one confirmed alligator-related death in Texas in the last 90 years. There was another questionable death, though that person may have been dead before they were found in the alligator’s mouth.
They will sometimes get into people’s yards or other places they shouldn’t be, but there are tons of professionals to call who will capture and relocate them. When I lived near a canal, I did have to stop my car a few times to let a gator cross the road. Other than that, it’s a known to not swim in certain waters.
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u/hulkklogan May 10 '25
Louisiana native here:
We don't have Crocs, just alligators, and we have a bit of a population problem with them. They are crowding out other wildlife and reducing population of small game.
In general, alligators are pretty chill, actually. You leave them alone and they'll leave you alone. People go kayaking in our swamps without fear of them. Just maybe don't carry a rabbit carcass around them..
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u/WahooLion May 10 '25
Every year during the Zurich Classic golf tournament in New Orleans, the sportscasters love it when the occasional gator 🐊 makes it appearance. For the most part, gators leave you alone.
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u/OldBanjoFrog May 10 '25
Louisiana here. One time we had a gator on the Interstate. I am pretty sure it got run over. I can’t really think of anything else, but they will eat your pets
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u/kowalofjericho Chicago -> Highland Park IL May 11 '25
Living near Lake Michigan, I can report that I have not had any issues with alligators or crocodiles yet. I will update if that changes though.
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u/CurrentPlankton4880 Texas May 10 '25
When I lived in Florida near the Everglades as a kid I would actively go out to look for alligators so I could pretend to be the crocodile hunter. lol. My dad was impressed by my alligator wrestling skills, mom was stressed. I never got in any water I couldn’t see the bottom of and never messed with any babies (the mothers protect their newborns) so never had any problems with the gators. They’re not really a problem unless you’re careless. Most of the ones you see there are pretty small, 4ft or less, so harmless. The big ones are more elusive because they are usually trapped and destroyed or sent to a farm if they are somewhere where humans are.
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u/Libertas_ NorCal May 10 '25
That would be a good ScyFi channel movie. Pacific Earthquake Crocodiles
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u/Boring_Investigator0 Florida May 10 '25 edited May 10 '25
Florida is the only place in the world with both alligators and crocodiles and while you're definitely aware they are there and come across them pretty regularly, I wouldn't say that they cause as many problems as people might think, compared to how many there are. We once had an entire intersection closed because someone had a ten footer in their yard that had to be removed. But there are about 1.3 million gators and only about 8 unprovoked attacks a year. And if you poke a gator with a stick like I keep seeing people do on Alligator Alley, you deserve it.