[Paddlewise] Alligators (Used to be Bears)

    Lets talk about alligators for a while. They seem to be spreading in the 
southern states and are getting more aggressive. I have paddled in the 
Okefeenokee Swamp and have notice two type alligators. One which seem to be adapted 
to humans and the other type is shy of humans. I don't know which would be the 
most dangerous. But it is a little unsettling to send your 10 year old son to 
throw some trash in a dumpster at a state campground and have him come back 
big eyed and excited by an alligator. Not just a little bitty alligator...it was 
a 14-16 foot, full grown alligator. He lives in the camp site and begs for 
food.  And people feed him!
       In the swamp, while fishing, some alligators would hang around for 
handouts. So I guess they learned like the bears that humans are easy. Walt 
Disney, bless his soul, has taught generations of us humans to humanize animals, so 
we see them as harmless, playful beings. But on any day any animal can turn 
on you. They are not human and do not think like we do. There is no way to 
predict how an animal will behave in any condition. Read up on animal trainers.    

       There was a 12 year old killed in Flordia in the last two weeks. I 
don't have the details, but my wife said the alligator drug him into the water. 
It must have seen him as prey.

Paddle like this is your last day,
Ronnie
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