There has been a lot of discussion on this list - and others - about people who seem not to be able to recognize danger. Not dressing for immersion, paddling water they are unqualified to paddle, paddling drunk, paddling without a PFD, the list goes on and on. Here is another to add to the list. An 18-year-old boy in Florida was partying with his pals on the shores of Lake Okeechobee late at night when he decided that it would be a good idea to go swimming. Thirty years ago it wouldn't have merited a raised eyebrow. That's because back then alligators in Florida were a threatened species due to over hunting. This is no longer the case, however. There were, literally, hundreds of alligators in the area where this kid entered the water. One of them, weighing 300 pounds and over 11 feet long, grabbed him by his left arm and tried to drag him underwater. A late-night snack. The kid, to his credit, fought back and got free by punching the gator in its eye. The gator swam off with his left arm in its stomach, however. The inevitable question is, "what was he thinking?" On television this morning (Good Morning America) he said that he thought the kids on the bank screaming at him were cheering him on. They were trying to tell him that he was being stalked by an alligator. Is this a result of video games where people don't relate to danger? What can be causing this apparent disconnect where people can't seem to understand when a situation might be life-threatening? If you have kids or grandkids this might be a good time to start educating them on how to recognize - and avoid - danger. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Craig Jungers said: > Here is another to add to the list. An 18-year-old boy in Florida was > partying with his pals on the shores of Lake Okeechobee late at night........... > The inevitable question is, "what was he thinking?"............. > > Is this a result of video games where people don't relate to danger? > What > can be causing this apparent disconnect where people can't seem to > understand when a situation might be life-threatening?.......... > Craig, As the father of two boys who survived their teenaged years and are now 32 and 30, let me enlighten you about the apparent disconnect that you are seeing. To me it is perfectly normal. Operative words are: 18 year old boy Partying with friends Late night All of this indicates alcohol and/or drugs. No surprise for me that he decided to swim with the 'gators. The thought that 'gators were there probably never crossed his mind. Steve Holtzman __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 3214 (20080624) __________ The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. http://www.eset.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
If people in Florida didn't swim in lakes and rivers where alligators live, there would be a lot of hot dry people in Florida. People and alligators share water all the time in the South, and alligator attacks are pretty rare. What if they had been partying at Daytona Beach and gone for a midnight swim in the ocean and gotten shark bit? Would you still shake your head and say "What was he thinking?"? From wikitravel: "The American Alligator CAN be a very dangerous predator but, despite a very strange outbreak of fatal attacks last year, it rarely attacks humans. Avoid interacting with alligators during mating season, and you will be fine. It is extremely common in the Everglades and it is estimated that more than 1 million alligators reside in Florida alone... Take those numbers and measure them against the amount of people who swim in Florida's rivers each year and you will find that the chance of attack is very low." Time, 5/21/06: "The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission records an average of about seven alligator attacks every year" which fits with (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/attacks/relariskgator.htm): "A Comparison of Shark Attacks and Fatalities with the American Alligator Attacks and Fatalities in the U.S.: 1948-2005 Alligator Shark Attacks Fatalities Attacks Fatalities Florida 351 17 509 8" Maybe the "late at night" part is meaningful, I dunno. Steve > Craig Jungers said: > >> Here is another to add to the list. An 18-year-old boy in Florida was >> partying with his pals on the shores of Lake Okeechobee late at > night........... > >> The inevitable question is, "what was he thinking?"............. -- Steve Cramer Athens, GA http://www.savvypaddler.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I heard gators taste like chicken. Fight back. Cheers, Rob G *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 11:01 AM, Steve Cramer <cramersec_at_charter.net> wrote: > If people in Florida didn't swim in lakes and rivers where alligators live, > there would be a lot of hot dry people in Florida. People and alligators > share water all the time in the South, and alligator attacks are pretty > rare. If people in Florida swam at night in canals full of gators during mating season.... then I suspect there would be a lot fewer people in Florida. > What if they had been partying at Daytona Beach and gone for a midnight > swim in the ocean and gotten shark bit? Would you still shake your head and > say "What was he thinking?"? Yup... if there were signs around the area saying "shark infested area" and did it at precisely the time that the sharks would be actively feeding. And if they ignored people on shore screaming at him to get out of the water because a shark was following him. This wasn't just a simming accident, he did almost everything wrong. And without being drunk (they say). The kid is now saying that it's the fault of the environmentalists for allowing the population of alligators to rise to such a high level. Maybe he's right. I wondered about that years ago when it became clear that alligators could breed much faster than people had thought. Craig *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Is this another classic case of "it's not my responsibility, so blame someone else because I didn't think" ? The alligators were almost certainly there long before the kid, or his ancestors. Perhaps the alligators and wildlife should sue us for letting the human population rise so quickly and destroy their environment (and OUR environment). I'm probably callous, but it is difficult to find much sympathy with his line of reasoning. -- Chris Broome Craig Jungers wrote: >....... > The kid is now saying that it's the fault of the environmentalists for > allowing the population of alligators to rise to such a high level. Maybe > he's right. I wondered about that years ago when it became clear that > alligators could breed much faster than people had thought. > ....... *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This is precisely why you would not want to go swimming in the New York City sewer system. Brad > On Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 11:01 AM, Steve Cramer <cramersec_at_charter.net> > wrote: > >> If people in Florida didn't swim in lakes and rivers where alligators >> live, >> there would be a lot of hot dry people in Florida. People and alligators >> share water all the time in the South, and alligator attacks are pretty >> rare. > > If people in Florida swam at night in canals full of gators during mating > season.... then I suspect there would be a lot fewer people in Florida. > >> What if they had been partying at Daytona Beach and gone for a midnight >> swim in the ocean and gotten shark bit? Would you still shake your head >> and >> say "What was he thinking?"? > > Yup... if there were signs around the area saying "shark infested area" > and > did it at precisely the time that the sharks would be actively feeding. > And > if they ignored people on shore screaming at him to get out of the water > because a shark was following him. This wasn't just a simming accident, he > did almost everything wrong. And without being drunk (they say). > > The kid is now saying that it's the fault of the environmentalists for > allowing the population of alligators to rise to such a high level. Maybe > he's right. I wondered about that years ago when it became clear that > alligators could breed much faster than people had thought. > > Craig *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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