SAVANNAH MORNING NEWS (Georgia) 11 October 07 Editorial: A brutal reality check
The death of an elderly Canadian woman who was killed by an alligator on Skidaway Island is a tragic reminder that Mother Nature is a harsh mistress.
An autopsy Tuesday showed that Gwen Williams, 83, bled to death because of bites attributed to an 8-foot gator, which a trapper caught and killed Wednesday.
Authorities suspect the alligator had been living in a golf course lagoon about 500 feet away from The Landings home where Ms. Williams was house-sitting for her daughter and son-in-law.
The community's thoughts and prayers go out to Ms. Williams and her family. This was a rare attack. State wildlife officials have reported just eight alligator attacks in Georgia from 1980 through 2007 so far, and just one death prior to last Friday's attack of Ms. Williams.
But rarity is no guarantee of safety.
Coastal Georgia isn't Disney World. The natural environment that gives this corner of the country its beauty and charm is largely nature in the raw. The alligators, snakes and other slithery creatures that share their habitats with man are real, not robots.
Alligators tend to avoid humans, but they lose their fear when people feed them, wildlife experts have said.
Alligator feeding eventually causes gators to associate people with food - the worse scenario of all. Such creatures must be trapped and removed as a matter of public safety.
Whether the alligator that killed Ms. Williams had been fed by humans may never be known. Licensed trappers typically remove large gators as a precaution, which is smart. But respecting these ancient denizens of Georgia's coast is smarter.
So is keeping your distance from them.
Most natives know this. Non-natives who live here long enough come to learn it. Short-term visitors from other areas of the country - or other countries - probably don't. They should be given crash courses in wildlife safety, especially if they are going to be living or walking near lagoons or marshy areas. (Golfers, take note.)
Man may like to think that he has conquered nature. But the best he can do is to adapt to his surroundings. Call last Friday's attack a brutal reality check.
Editorial: A brutal reality check