SEBASTIAN SUN (Florida) 25 March 06 Beware, Florida's toothy critters on the move (Ed Killer)
The toothy grin of a big bull alligator can get your blood moving. So can the unmistakable profile of a dorsal fin slicing through the water.
Spring time in South Florida is mating season for alligators and feeding season for sharks. I recently received an e-mail warning that alligator activity is on the rise during the spring mating season.
It said to be careful of increased alligator activity from mid-March through April. It suggested that tourists and visitors to Florida wear noise-making devices like bells tied to their shoe tops and reflective tape to help warn gators of your presence.
The memo continued by saying that people can easily determine when and where there is increased activity by alligators. One of the easiest ways is to look for alligator droppings.
An indication of activity by small alligators is when droppings contain bird feathers and bones of small fish and mammals. An indication of large alligators being nearby is when droppings contain pieces of reflective tape and small bells.
(Pause for laughter, 2, 3, 4).
But seriously folks, spring is the time of year when our toothiest of toothy critters begin to become a little more prevalent and a little more defensive.
Case in point, let's look at my week, the week of a typical Floridian.
Sunday, it was family day at the beach. Our destination was Walton Rocks near the Power Plant. While the kids played in the shorebreak, I stood on the dune watching the aerial display of spinner sharks 300 yards off the beach.
Monday, I fished Blue Cypress Lake in western Indian River County. I saw what looked like a felled cypress tree floating along — the end of it being just too big around to be anything that swims.
Then its profile changed. That's when I realized it was a gator every bit of 10 feet long.
This time of year, you can hear the bull gators calling for mates. It's a deep rumble — a cross between a long throaty frog croak and a hog grunt. When you feel the rumble, you might want to quickly give a check of your surroundings.
Humans are fascinated by creatures with big gnarly teeth. Few animals on earth elicit the type of instinctual fear response in us better than sharks or gators. And they can — and sometimes do — harm us pretty severely.
In fact, the Shark Attack File, www.flmnh.ufl.edu, maintained by the University of Florida's Museum of Natural History actually compares attacks by sharks and alligators between 1948 and 2003. In Florida, there were 326 known alligator attacks over that span with 13 fatalities. Shark attacks numbered 459 with eight fatalities.
By comparison, there were 428 fatalities from lightning strikes over less time.
Spring time is the best time to give these toothy critters a wide berth.
It is illegal to feed an alligator. It is not illegal to feed a shark, but it is unwise.
Use common sense.
If you encounter an alligator longer than four feet that appears to be a nuisance call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at (866) FWC-GATOR.
Florida's toothy critters on the move