There are dangers everywhere and making the world into a giant rubber room isn't the solution! Out west where I live we have canyons, deep canyons, and in many places visitors go to see them there are shear drops of 1000 feet or more -- AND NO FENCES! Are we suppose to fence off the entire Colorado River?
But, there needs to be signs saying that gators maybe in the water and to stay clear and watch you kids.
Brian
This was a man made lake INSIDE the Disney resort. Big difference from just a random lake in Florida.
all articles i've ready clearly state it's a man made lake, the ones linked in this thread included.
I grew up in FL. I don't think it matters whether the body of water is man made or not. It would never occur to me that there would be no gators or snakes etc in pond or lake because it was man made. E.g., many ponds on golf courses are man made; most have gators (at least from time to time, they move around).
Heck, I remember a 5 footer showing up in a ditch near our house. That was a head scratcher.
And IIRC that Disney lake is pretty large. I see no way to keep wildlife out of it.
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If the state of FL had to put up signs everywhere a gator might be they'd go bankrupt.
I haven't lived or even visited FL in while, but the signs I remember about gators were warnings not to feed them. Fools (aka tourists) still be throwing marshmallows and whatnot to the gators.
Fern
Yes, there should have been warning signs about gators.
What does this have to do with anything, though? Gators find their way into plenty of fenced-in backyards and chill out in swimming pools all the time.
Is there some reason that people are assuming gators don't like man-made bodies of water? They freaking love man-made water--it usually means there is a tasty pet nearby.
I'm in FL at least twice a year. Dad lives on a canal, has a dock with a raised boat, and a little gator fence. We go to one of the parks rather frequently where he spends much of his semi-retirement work trapping critters, and we check on about 5 or 6 big gators that have been hanging out in the same spot for a decade or so. ...this last part isn't about man-made water, just that you don't go anywhere in FL without assuming any nearby water has a gator lurking beneath it.
You're in Canada.
Do you guys have a sign about every 10 or 20 feet on the highway, or maybe in surface streets and your back yard:
"Warning: big dumbass moose might show up and wreck your shit for no particular reason."
Or is it just something that, being a native, you know to be aware of?
This was a man made lake INSIDE the Disney resort. Big difference from just a random lake in Florida.
This isn't LA, where the only form of wildlife is a possum smashed on the side of one of your brown concrete rivers.
I'm not blaming the parents for being ignorant tourists or anything--this is a horrible thing that happened and could have happened to anyone--but there's a lot of general gator ignorance in this thread.
I would guess most people on this beach on vacation would probably let their guard down.
http://yourfirstvisit.net/wp-conten...Floridian-Resort-from-yourfirstvisit.net_.jpg
This isn't LA, where the only form of wildlife is a possum smashed on the side of one of your brown concrete rivers.
Surprise the body of the boy is still intact. I guess the gator let the boy go after he got far enough away after being attacked by the father.
Surprise the body of the boy is still intact. I guess the gator let the boy go after he got far enough away after being attacked by the father.
Gators drown their prey and let them rot before eating, they can't chew.
I wonder what the new signs will say.
It's Florida. No swimming means: "Stay the fuck away from this water. 10 foot minimum distance. etc" This sucks for sure, but: tourists.
The boy's family was at a movie night outdoors at the Grand Floridian resort when around 9 p.m. the boy waded into about a foot of water in a lagoon, authorities have said. Witnesses, including the boy's horrified parents, tried to save him. His father jumped in and tried to pry the gator's mouth open. His mother jumped in, too.
Witnesses said the family was on the beach, and the boy's sister was in a playpen about 20 to 30 yards from the water, according to Demings. The toddler was nearby, wading in the water.
There are "No Swimming" signs at the lagoon, and no one but the child was in the water at the time of the attack, Demings said.
you did grow up in Florida so you knew.