Florida teen lost arm in alligator attack.

reply to post by Osiris1953

I feel like it could have been prevented also, but you know how teenagers are. You can warn them until you are blue in the face, but at that age they think they know everything and are ten feet tall and bullet proof! I couldn't keep my kids out of the water at that age and they kept me on the edge of a nervous breakdown during the summer.

I always told them for every gator you see there are ten that you don't. They would still jump in the river anyway. They seemed to think that they could outswim a gator if it became necessary. Outswim a gator!!! Can you imagine?!! Like I said- ten feet tall and bullet proof. Just wait until their kids are old enough to go jump in the river and we'll see how they feel about it then!

reply to post by Osiris1953


The ocean has sharks so we should never swim.

Cars can wreck so we should never drive.

Planes crash so we should never fly.

I won't take the time to look it up because I know i am right but if you really want to debate compare the ratio of people that swim in lakes and get bit to people who drive cars and wreck.

Originally posted by knowledgedesired
reply to post by Osiris1953

 

The ocean has sharks so we should never swim.

Cars can wreck so we should never drive.

Planes crash so we should never fly.

I won't take the time to look it up because I know i am right but if you really want to debate compare the ratio of people that swim in lakes and get bit to people who drive cars and wreck.

Ocean has sharks but they have their limit how far they come to shore, if your a far ocean swimmer, you should already know the consequences.

Cars can wreck, but i don;t think there are people out there, getting up everyday so they can track you down in their car and murder you.

Planes can crash but there is no fighter jet hunting passengers planes down.

If a lake has alligators, then you are taking the risk! if the lake has a protective barrier, then there is less chance for a gator to get into the barrier.

Know your limits on whats safe and whats not

Originally posted by knowledgedesired
reply to post by Osiris1953

 

I won't take the time to look it up because I know i am right but if you really want to debate compare the ratio of people that swim in lakes and get bit to people who drive cars and wreck.

That comparison doesn't really work, since most people know to STAY OUT OF THE WATER. Yes there is usually only about one fatality a year in the state, less people in the water, less tragedy. If everyone threw caution to the wind that figure would probably be astronomical.

As far as sharks go, there are a variety of sharks in the ocean, most of them aren't aggressive. Even those that are known to be aggressive aren't really looking at you as a viable food source. There are usually reasons why someone gets bit by a shark beyond the shark being hungry. The gator, however, is more than happy to eat you.

The difference being, going into the ocean is like willingly entering a room full of people milling about and one of those people might stab you once if the conditions are right. Going into a lake or river is tantamount to entering a room with one guy with a knife who would love to kill you. Maybe he will/will not succeed, but I'm not going to make it easy for him, so I would not enter the room.

Yes it's true that car crash injuries and fatalities are high, but it's not really a valid argument since cars are almost essential to livelihood of most people. I need to be able to go to work and the grocery store..... I don't need to swim in any lake or river.

Originally posted by Expat888
Definite Darwin Candidate there ... prime example of a gene - pool needing chlorination ....

I don't know why you say that. I live in Florida, all of us go in rivers sometimes, wade fishing, swimming, floating. Some of these rivers are supposed to be gator free, but all this flooding lately has displaced them from other nearby places.

It can happen to anyone who have a normal life, and live it out of complete fear. When I go floating down the river with friends and family, I keep a watchful eye for sure.

reply to post by Osiris1953


Every action you perform in a day has risk..

You do not have to fly.
You do not have to drive.
You do not have to go in the ocean.

My point is risk is based of statistics.
How many people perform an action versus how many get hurt/killed performing that action.

If you compare how many people swim in lakes and get bit to how many people that drive and wreck you are more likely to be in a car accident then get bit swimming in a lake.

I respect your opinion but I totally disagree.

reply to post by knowledgedesired


I agree that we should agree to disagree.

Why can't all ATS debates be like this. We disagree, established the reasons for our points of view, and made our points. No name calling or personal attacks. Such a rarity these days.

So.... just please be careful in the water if you insist on going.

I have lived in Florida for over 20 years and seen my share of gators. One day my wife and I were canoeing from Hontoon State Park to Blue Springs State Park and saw some kids swimming in the river. The parents were on the bank sitting in lawn chairs watching them.
Then I saw a 8'-0 Gator (maybe bigger) not even 50 yards from the kids. I yelled over to the parents that there was a gator...They just waved me off and said, "Yeah we know, we've been watching him swim back and forth all morning." I was shocked by their indifference and lack of concern. They acted like there was no danger at all. I told them to get those kids out of the water and they just told me to mind my own business. Then I heard the guy tell his wife, "they must be tourists."

I shook my head in disbelief and when we got to Blue Springs, I found a ranger and told him about what happened. He said, "Those #&$#^% idiots!" and took off in his boat. I guess no harm came to those kids but I still wonder what in the heck those parents were thinking?.

My sister lives on the West Coast of Fla. and they have a canal in their back yard. One night she went down to their dock and a huge alligator with only 3 legs was laying in the middle of the dock. She didn't even notice it until she turned the light on. Scared the heck out of her though. I guess people get used to seeing them and let their guard down. That is a big mistake. Even a small one can ruin your day if he takes off a finger or two.

"You can't do this to me and get away with it." If someone else tracks it down and kills it. Otherwise yeah the gator did get away with it. I hope he does not get the gator's head as a trophy to his own stupidity. If you swim in gator infested waters, you deserve what you get.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
This is one of those strange situations where someone did something really smart and really stupid.

The Florida teen lost his right arm below the elbow Monday night during an alligator attack. He said he survived by offering the 11-foot alligator his arm, and used the skills he learned by watching TV shows like "Swamp People" to survive the brutal attack.

Read more: www.foxnews.com...

I applaud him for using his wits and knowledge in what would be a frightening, lightning fast situation. Most people wouldn't be that lucky.

I also applaud him for his conceited but probably well intentioned attitude that he was glad it was him, but his friends would of been too stupid to survive.

Now I am not a gator attack expert. (We don't have many here, lol) So I don't know if what he did was the correct way to handle things. I would of punched the eyes.

So I would be interested in hearing from people who do know how to handle these situations, on what is the best course of action to take.

Now, what gets me about this kid, is that he was brave on getting himself out of the situation, but he was dumb enough to put himself in it.

You are swimming in a gator infested river in Florida during mating season, and you are mad at the gator?

I don't believe in killing predators over dumb animals.

Well stated...

Originally posted by groingrinder
"You can't do this to me and get away with it." If someone else tracks it down and kills it. Otherwise yeah the gator did get away with it. I hope he does not get the gator's head as a trophy to his own stupidity. If you swim in gator infested waters, you deserve what you get.

Agreed...

The cool thing is this...the idiot will remember this for the rest of his life as he now has one less appendage to be retarded with.

Also, this boy might be saying dumb things because they probably have him on loads of pain killers. Between the drugs and the exciting attention, the reality of his lost arm may not have sunk in yet.

reply to post by nixie_nox


I almost posted this one too! There was another alligator attack the day before where a 15 year old from my town was bitten across the torso and chest, but he fought free, and his uncle hunted the gator down and killed it.

Gators in Florida very rarely attack grown folks! Sometimes they'll kill dogs or small livestock, or maybe even grab a child, but rarely a teenager or adult. Having 2 attacks within days is concerning. I've swam with alligators many times. Wacissa Springs is about 5 miles from my house, and there is a rope swing, and the gators lie up on logs and watch the kids swing out and jump into the water. Once in awhile they get a little too close and some bigger kids or adults will shoe them away.

Maybe it is the heat causing the gators to act aggressively? I know it makes me grouchy!

ETA:
For the record, there is no "right" thing to do when attacked by a gator. They are basically impregnable to any of a humans natural defenses. You can't hurt them. You can try to remember to hold your breath, because they are probably going to roll. You should resist and make sure you are not an easy meal. If they get a good grip on something like an arm, pray it comes off, because that will help you survive. If the arm stays attached, you'll likely be killed. Better to lose an arm than your life. Poking them in the eyes or gripping under the bottom of their snout very, very strongly with your fingertips might provide a little bit of discomfort to them, but nothing they are not used to. The only thing you can do is just not go easily, and hope they give up.

Coming from a place where our lakes and rivers are made for swimmers and such, I cant fathom a beast jumping up and tearing my arm off like that. If I ever go to Florida though, now I know.

Originally posted by Osiris1953
I'm a Floridian, born and raised.

You should never, under any circumstances swim in any river, lake, or any other body of standing water here. To me it's pretty much a given that your butt is going to get eaten if you are in the water. Three feet of water is all they need to sneak up on you. I don't believe I even know anyone that has been dumb enough to just go swimming for the hell of it.

Stupid, just stupid.

Thats what sucks about Florida to me. Well the main thing, when I saw these beautiful crystal clear pond/lakes in central florida and wanted to jump in but the locals would say you have to know which pond has gators and which dont. At which point I was like they are close together, the gators could just jump in and out while nobody noticed, duh.

And the turtles are huge in there anyway. And they are having a problem with exotic snakeheads in freshwater, and venomous LIONFISH in the beaches of Florida now, too. Wow, why is the human virus so destructive??

reply to post by LoveU


The Lionhead are not in Florida much yet. They are bad over in the Bahamas, but they aren't a nuisance here yet. I have friends that spear fish for the Lionhead, and they are supposed to be some of the best fish you will ever eat!

As a local, I would never tell you that you have to know which ones have gators and which ones don't, because we assume they ALL have gators! You just don't want to get between a gator and its eggs, and you don't want to look like food to a gator. The one that took that boy's arm was an 11-footer. That is a big alligator!

Florida is a unique place in the US. I grew up in Missouri and we had very few things that could be lethal to a human. In reality, I don't think we had any. Here in Florida a lot of stuff wants to kill you! Fire Ants, Gators, Rattlers, Pythons, Coral Snakes (of which I saw one just last week!), Sharks, Cougars, Bears. And now, as you mentioned, we have the Lion fish, and there have been a couple of spottings along the Atlantic Coast of the infamous Box Jellyfish.

Originally posted by yourmaker
Coming from a place where our lakes and rivers are made for swimmers and such, I cant fathom a beast jumping up and tearing my arm off like that. If I ever go to Florida though, now I know.

Same here - man, every time I hear about stuff like this, it's always in the South.

I haven't yet recovered from the giant wild Boar thread...

reply to post by getreadyalready



missouri has cotton mouths, copper heads, timber rattlers and a few other types of venomous snake

lately cougars have been known to appear just about anywhere and travel huge distances to find food because their environments are being destroyed

pythons are hardly what i would consider deadly (and i lol at fire ants) a and coral snakes do have potent venom but they have to make chewing motions to get their small fangs to puncture prey and introduce it and are therefor less deadly than many other snakes with less potent venom

missouri also doesnt regulate ownership or sale of dangerous or exotic animals requiring only that they be registered and "pets" have been known to escape

that said florida does have a fairly healthy ecosystem which is able to support a wide range of predators and its foolish to throw yourself into an environment like that with disregard for them (like swimming in waters that are known to harbor gators....especially during mating season when they extremely territorial)

reply to post by sirhumperdink


All true.

I grew up and spent my first 25 years in Missouri, in the hills, I have slept outside under the stars in the hills of Missouri and Arkansas many times. I've gone deep into caves, I've hunted and fished, including noodling for catfish.

I just never felt my life was in danger by wildlife there. I've even heard of using baby copperheads for bass bait, but that might be an urban legend.

Here in Florida the threats are a lot more common and direct. I've seen a gator take out a dog first hand! I've been on the beach when a kid was attacked by a shark down the beach a little ways. I've heard a cougar scream at night. Hell, I think the mosquitos here might be deadly! I love both states very much, but I wouldn't think twice about walking out into the woods of Missouri day or night, winter or summer, completely unprepared, and I'd still be fine, but here in Florida, you better be prepared before you attempt something like that! Stuff here will eat your unprepared ass quick!

Did I already link the "Tates Hell" song? That song is the bitter truth about trying to live in the swamps or woods of Florida.

reply to post by knowledgedesired


I live on the east coast with deer. Everyone here knows when mating AND hunting season is. And you avoid the woods during hunting season.

That kid would of had to never have spoken to another Floridian ever, to not know his own area.