Diver bit by gator at Silver Springs...

[scubadog1969]

I don't. That gator needed to die. Humans are still more important in my book. When they lose their fear of humans.....time to go

Well i don't think u know what your talking about they were here before we were we are invading there space and there territory . So there only doing what they know to do and protecting there home . Wouldn't you defend your home anyway possible if someone came in uninvited ????? If a shark bites someone at a dive spot and you goto that dive spot and you see a shark are you going to kill it just because it bit someone? Maybe that Gator needed to be put down i don't know the hole story.But i think if there is no diving allowed they should have found another way to get the water sample !

 

[scubadog1969]

I don't know how the gators got there but there isn't a resident gator population on Big Pine. There doesn't need to be one either as people live there.

We have mountain lions here. They come across my property. They were here first. That does not entitle them to eat my grandchildren. Should they hang out here then they have to go too.

WHATS THE DIFFERENCE ?

WHY DON"T YOU KILL THEM YOU LIVE THERE NOW WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE IN THE GATOR AND THE MOUNTAIN LIONS????????

 

[Scott L]

I don't know how the gators got there but there isn't a resident gator population on Big Pine. There doesn't need to be one either as people live there.

Floridians have been living side-by-side with alligators with relatively few fatalities in the past several decades...

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Aaah granola eaters

Animals have rights. People don't. If I don't like it move.

Waaaah.

Well the state of Florida has been killing gators that get too comfortable with humans for a long time, it's one of the reasons there are so few fatalities. Take a little guess at how many gators are killed every year

Now mountain lions. Here's the deal. When the city dwellers in Oregon changed hunting laws because they saw ads depicting poor 200 pound kitties being stressed beyond belief by hunters they voted in a very stupid law. So now we have lots of 200 pound kitties in the neighborhood. City dwellers don't have to deal with the effects of what that's like. Dead domestic animals are common. In California the granola types have had their way too and now people are getting killed by mountain lions. Maybe people should just move off this planet and allow the poor kitties to do what they will.

We've upset the balance of nature kids. Lions need 20 square miles per adult. The young ones are moving into the neighborhood for the first time since humans moved here.

So....we shoot them, usually twice. Head shots are preferred. If they're around humans, they need to go. The government supports this as 200 pound kitties don't pay property taxes

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

I don't know how the gators got there but there isn't a resident gator population on Big Pine. There doesn't need to be one either as people live there.

We have mountain lions here. They come across my property. They were here first. That does not entitle them to eat my grandchildren. Should they hang out here then they have to go too.

Well I agree, they don't have that right to harm anyone in your family. At the same time if you are responsible it should never be an issue. Young lions I have had a few issues with but never had to harm one. Most people look for a reason to kill, mostly cause they are scared of said animal and that is a piss poor excuse. I still think there needs to be strict penalties if your caught feeding a gator. No sense in encouraging that type of interaction between us and them.

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

Al you really need to get your facts right. The lions in Cali are a different story. They attack because there is no other food source. Their normal prey moved out mostly due to humans. I am a hunter and was rather successful taking deer in 5 states, 2 different elk species and completing the grand slam of Turkey. No tree hugger here, but I have respect for the apex predators of this world.

 

[Thalassamania]

It is a matter of outlook. I was up in Montana working on a bear project. The phone rang, it was a tourist who was renting a cabin. He was complaining that there was a mother grizzly and her cub asleep across the hood of his car (he came home late the night before, the bears like the heat). I asked him what he'd like us to do. He said he wanted us to move the bears so that he could drive down to Lake McDonald and go canoeing, as he had planed. I handed to the phone to a Ranger who told the Tourist to stay inside, the bears will leave within a few hours. The tourist was not happy.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I'm fully aware of why there are too many lions in cali. I'm also a hunter and have killed my fair share of game. But since there isn't a food source for lions why do we allow them to over populate?

Oh yeah, animal lovers have taken over

Hunt them with hounds and charge hunters plenty for those tags. Instead they have taken away hounds and so we now have to pay professional hunters to shoot them. Makes perfect sense right?

At least in Oregon fish and game have extended the season and reduced the price of a tag in an attempt to control the lion population but it isn't working, we need hounds. Granola eating city dwellers have screwed us country people yet again.

So when we spot them on our property, we drain them.

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

,

I'm fully aware of why there are too many lions in cali. I'm also a hunter and have killed my fair share of game. But since there isn't a food source for lions why do we allow them to over populate?

Oh yeah, animal lovers have taken over

Hunt them with hounds and charge hunters plenty for those tags. Instead they have taken away hounds and so we now have to pay professional hunters to shoot them. Makes perfect sense right?

At least in Oregon fish and game have extended the season and reduced the price of a tag in an attempt to control the lion population but it isn't working, we need hounds. Granola eating city dwellers have screwed us country people yet again.

So when we spot them on our property, we drain them.

Why do you need a dog? That's what happens when you live in a state where they think your not smart enough to pump your own gas. ( thats a joke, Oregon is a beautiful State ) Montana allows dogs to be used , however I had a few friends that hunted them but they didn't use dogs. Tell me something, do you carry a bangstick while diving in the ocean?

 

[Terrific]

We dont have predators such as Alligators here in Europe, but if I am reading this right, the guy was supoosed to be snorkelling for water samples in a place where diving (of any sort) has long been banned. If this is true then surley he should have taken the necessary measures to make sure that the area was clear of any Alligators (or his compnay should have) before he went swimming there. If getting in the water is not allowed then once again, it appears as if us humans have exercised our god given (?) right to exercise our muscles over the rest of nature.

Whats done is done, the alligator is dead and the guy will hopefully recover and lead a full life, but for goodness sake, we need to to be more aware and responsible. Surely this is how the residents of Florida have lived in reasonable harmony with these creatures. If getting in the water is not allowed, then perhaps there is a good reason.