Found Deceased FL - Lane Graves, 2, Walt Disney World, 14 June 2016 #1

[cuffem]

But... they weren't in the wild.

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It does not have to be the wild,gators love ponds on golf courses and any small body of water like swimming pools.

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

The only alligators we really need to worry about are alligators that people have been feeding.

rsbm

Common sense tells me we should use caution with all alligators because you can't distinguish which ones are fed by humans.

 

[Zuri]

Slightly O/T: About 20 years ago, we took our 3 small children to Naples, FL. The weather was beautiful, so we decided to go to the beach. As we were preparing to take the children into the ocean, a lady said there was a "red tide"? and not to go in. I had no clue what she was talking about. There were no signs or warnings, but we heeded her advice.

Being from Delaware, I am not familiar with this expression. I don't even know if I have remembered the right name for it. Is there such a thing as "red tide"? Or something similar? Something about algae or seaweed? TIA

 

[cuffem]

I just now remembered a story about a child dying from the amoeba contracted at Disney's RiverCountry Park.

 

[cuffem]

Slightly O/T: About 20 years ago, we took our 3 small children to Naples, FL. The weather was beautiful, so we decided to go to the beach. As we were preparing to take the children into the ocean, a lady said there was a "red tide"? and not to go in. I had no clue what she was talking about. There were no signs or warnings, but we heeded her advice.

Being from Delaware, I am not familiar with this expression. I don't even know if I have remembered the right name for it. Is there such a thing as "red tide"? Or something similar? Something about algae or seaweed? TIA

Yes,it is a algae,mostly on the golf coast.Kills alot of fish and they wash ashore.

 

[ladygator]

Wow,you never heard of sea lice?They have beach warnings during the months when released and depending on ocean winds and currents.You must be on the Gulf side.

Yes, I am on the Gulf side. So, this is common in the Atlantic? It blew me away that I've never heard this stuff mentioned till last week. They showed pictures on the news of someones back all red and nasty from a rash.

I was like, great, head lice isn't enough? Now we can catch lice from seaweed, lol. How gross!! I didn't even want to listen to the newscast any further. I thought it was something new.

 

[AmyPond]

With the sun still shining as brightly as it is in that picture, I wouldn't hesitate to wade or swim in that water, or to allow a young child or small pet to do so.

Gators feed mostly at dusk and after dark. I wouldn't allow a small child or pet near that water from dusk onwards, and even though gator attacks on adults are vanishingly rare, I'd be hesitant to go too near the water's edge myself.

As a native midwesterner....I had no idea what time of day alligators feed until this thread. I mean, I'm sure I've read it before in a text book or at the zoo but it's just not information that stuck with me over the years.

I would be more concerned with water moccosans .I had seen them on the deck of the ferry at disney.

I had to google water moccasins. I read "moccasin" and I think of a shoe. Ha! In googling, I also saw a list of poisonous snakes in Nebraska. Never heard of the ones we have here. When it's not something you typically encounter (because I'm just in a suburban area), it's just not something that crosses your mind. So alligators would be even farther back in my mind.

 

[cuffem]

As a native midwesterner....I had no idea what time of day alligators feed until this thread. I mean, I'm sure I've read it before in a text book or at the zoo but it's just not information that stuck with me over the years.



I had to google water moccasins. I read "moccasin" and I think of a shoe. Ha! In googling, I also saw a list of poisonous snakes in Nebraska. Never heard of the ones we have here. When it's not something you typically encounter (because I'm just in a suburban area), it's just not something that crosses your mind. So alligators would be even farther back in my mind.

Amy,just to let you know most things in the wild feed at dusk like sharks,fish.

 

[cuffem]

Yes, I am on the Gulf side. So, this is common in the Atlantic? It blew me away that I've never heard this stuff mentioned till last week. They showed pictures on the news of someones back all red and nasty from a rash.

I was like, great, head lice isn't enough? Now we can catch lice from seaweed, lol. How gross!! I didn't even want to listen to the newscast any further. I thought it was something new.

It's not like lice but baby jellyfish and the rash is from stings.They collect in the folds of a swimsuit.They are only trouble during a couple months and only when winds and a strong current push them to shore.

 

[cluciano63]

OT, but years ago, my husband was in Florida seeing his parents and out of touch for two days, while I was visiting family in New York. Long story, but anyway, my younger brother said he probably had gone off the road in his rental car, and been attacked by an alligator. (This was while trying to work out scenarios where his whereabouts could be so unknown.) Just to say that lots of people equate Florida with alligators...and suspect they lurk in all bodies of water, even swimming pools. In any case, it turned out to be not much more than car trouble and a dead cell phone. Jmo

 

[perfectingpink]

How to send cards to the Graves family

http://www.fox13news.com/news/florida-news/160576769-story

 

[LaborDayRN]

Yep, I've been to see the wild monkeys. Loved it!

Your brother sounds like my husband's father. He caught an alligator when he was a young man, and he kept it as a pet for a while, until it got too big. Back in the day, that used to be common.

I guess the monsters we know just aren't as scary as the monsters we don't know. I love alligators, but I have to admit, they look terrifying.

I"m only asking because I'm truly curious. What became of the alligator after it got too big? Wouldn't it be dangerous to release? I Imagine it had been accustomed to being fed by a human.

 

[keyleigh]

:facepalm: I've just realised why you Floridians have those shade house type things over your pools. To keep the alligators out, yes?

 

[LinasK]

:facepalm: I've just realised why you Floridians have those shade house type things over your pools. To keep the alligators out, yes?

Oh the "cages" I see on Insane Pools. I just thought they were ugly greenhouses.

 

[sonjay]

I"m only asking because I'm truly curious. What became of the alligator after it got too big? Wouldn't it be dangerous to release? I Imagine it had been accustomed to being fed by a human.

I have no idea. I remember my father-in-law telling the story of catching the gator and keeping it, but he didn't say what became of the gator. My FIL died about 2 years ago, so I can't ask him. He was a neighbor and friend of the man who founded the Miami Serpentarium, so maybe the gator went there.

 

[mrsu]

I am from the Midwest and my heart is absolutely broken for this family. I know someone who was friends with the family. [emoji17]

IMO there absolutely needs to be signage posted and Disney does hold some fault in this tragedy. When you advertise a fairy tale park where only magical things happen, it leaves the likelihood for visitors to let their guard down thinking they are not in harms way. There indeed are other signs posted at different resorts that warn of gators! If Disney was aware of the Gators in this lagoon, which obviously they were as gators were being relocated, there should be more than a no swimming sign posted. That is just pure laziness. Because it is touted as a man made lagoon, it would be safe to assume that visitors who aren't native to Florida would not expect for there to be gators lurking in the water. "Man made" generally does not mean connected by canal to swamplands. And especially unsuspecting if they had seen gator signs posted elsewhere in the park but not on this beach. Very misleading.

I read in an article that there are new $2k per night bungalows with private balconies over this same lagoon and that numerous guest have been seen feeding the gators. A worker who notified the higher ups suggested that the park was hesitant to reprimand guests in a $2k per night rental. Very unfortunate.

For those suggesting parents should do their homework before traveling. Yes, if I'm hiking in the mountains or spending time in the Everglades, of course I would educate myself about the surroundings and the potential dangers. I can guarantee you if I was going to Disney, I would not be researching gators and water moccasins.

Reading through this thread has further confirmed I am not fit for Florida. Swimming with gators?? NO WAY. THAT IS NUTS! [emoji15]Sharks? No thank you. I will stay right in the Midwest where all there is to worry about swimming in lakes are chiggers and leeches. [emoji51]

And because of this terrible tragedy I HAVE looked up surviving a gator attack. Suggestions were to poke their eyes and punch their heads for anyone else interested. [emoji52]

 

[sonjay]

:facepalm: I've just realised why you Floridians have those shade house type things over your pools. To keep the alligators out, yes?

No, those are for the mosquitos & other bugs. We may have a plentiful supply of gators, but we're absolutely infested with insects. If I had a choice, I'd take gators over mosquitos any day.

 

[human]

When traveling to someplace new it is a good idea to research any dangers,especially in the wild.

Tourist areas don't like to advertise their dangers. Obviously Florida does not. When I had wanted to go to Florida a few years ago and was researching places to go, never once was there info on dangers.

 

[keyleigh]

That makes sense too. Florida sounds like northern Australia's cousin. ^^ in response to the mosquitos

mrsu I am so sorry.

 

[flourish]

When traveling to someplace new it is a good idea to research any dangers,especially in the wild.

I guess I don't think of Disney World as "in the wild," though. "Though you should," is Mr flourish's reading-over-my-shoulder take. He's lived in Florida. I've only left the northwest US a small handful of times, and never to Florida. Disney should have had barriers or a wall or something besides the tiny signs amongst this inviting little shoreline. It was the absolute least they could do which is not good enough.