Pond's first visitor

[OkeeDon]

Pond\'s first visitor

Yep, this is Florida. Our pond got it's first visitor; first of many over the years if experience is a guide.

 

[OkeeDon]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

Yep, it's a little gator. Not much more than a baby -- maybe 24".

 

[OkeeDon]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

He's just floating around, enjoying the holiday, even has a buddy come to visit him.

 

[OkeeDon]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

When I startled him a little, he swam away.

 

[OkeeDon]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

But, just to the other side of the pond. I called my son-in-law, who used to help the local wildlife officer count gators, and he came over with a light tackle rig.

 

[OkeeDon]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

After a few casts, he snagged him near the tail, and pulled him backwards towards shore.

 

[OkeeDon]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

The little guy really didn't want to be pulled out of the pond, so he thrashed a bit.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

Don, what does one do with a gator? Luggage? Wallets? Deep fried tails? Or do they just relocate them to a new spot away from people?

 

[OkeeDon]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

But, we soon got him in the grass, where one of the dogs checked him out.

 

[OkeeDon]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

If you look closely on the left side of his tail, you can see the hook.

For now, we released him, and he went back to the pond. If he was larger, we'd call the wildlife officer, who would call one of the certified hunters, who would remove the gator and most likely slaughter it for the tail, skin, etc. My s-i-l has had to do that a couple of times over the last 8 years in his pond, next door.

We wanted to relocate him, but we just weren't thinking. Our initial thought was to put him in a box or a bucket (we could pick him up carefully with the fishing line), but we weren't prepared. It was only after having used the pliers on my leatherman tool to release the hook and let him go, when I suddenly realized I was sitting behind a mobile bucket. We'll catch him again, later, put him in the FEL bucket, and transport him to the drainage swale across the sctreet, where he can continue his journey back to the slough from whence he likely came. If he finds his way back, I'll have to call the wildlife officer. I don't want him to think of my pond as "home" after he grows enough to eat the grandkids and dogs.

 

[OkeeDon]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

By the way, I took these with my new camera. My old Sony Mavica finally breathed it's last, so I replaced it with a Nikon Coolpix 4800, 8.3x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom, 4 megapixels, and enough fancy stuff that it will take me about 6 months to learn how to use it all. I edited and cropped these pictures directly on the camera, using the adaptor cord to see them on the TV while I arranged and cropped. Definitely cool pix.

 

[DHennet]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

Is it common to find young gators alone? Would Mama or Papa gator be someplace nearby?

-Dan

 

[OkeeDon]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

Young gators stick close to their Mother for about a year, forming pods. My guess is that this guy was between two and three years old, old enough to be independent. I don't know enough about their habits to be sure, but I believe that males will travel to find new territory. This little guy probably squeezed in through a tiny gap in the pasture fence around my property, aided by the flooding caused by the abnormal amount of rain we've been having. I don't think any adults could get through the fence (4" wire mesh field fence, with the bottom row buried), but nothing would surprise me. When my s-i-l had larger ones in his pond, it was when he had barbed wire fencing, which doesn't stop gators. He hasn't had an adult since we installed the field fence around his place at the same time we did mine (his 2-1/2 acres adjoins my 5 acres).

 

[Jagmandave]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

What do those little guys eat? Frogs? Mice? Rats?

I know all the stories about small dogs and children, but they'd be out of this one's league........ /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[OkeeDon]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

Minnows and little frogs.

 

[cag]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

Don I don't blame you one bit not wanting those in your pond, I'm sure glad we don't have them up here...cag

 

[Junkman]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

My South American Cayman by the time he was 2' long was already eating small mice. By the time he reached 4' long, he was eating larger rodents. It was at that time that I made arrangements for him to be relocated to a wild game farm to live out the rest of his life. At 4', they are already getting too difficult to handle. I had the little fella since he was a hatch-ling. Those were the days that they were legal to own and keep. By the time that he left, I was getting regular visits from the Fish & Wildlife Department.

 

[OkeeDon]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

Well, I guess I picked the right description when I said "visitor". It's been a couple of days, now, and we haven't seen him again. Apparently we made him feel so unwelcome when we hooked him and dragged him ashore, that he decided to move on. We still have a small, wooded area that's flooded, and it's possible he's hiding in there, but I think he's gone.

 

[Jagmandave]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

Maybe one of those flying cockroaches (oops, I mean palmetto bugs) carried him off? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

BTW, how did you know it was a "him", and not a "her"?

 

[OkeeDon]

Re: Pond\'s first visitor

Assumption. I think the males are more apt to travel, to establish their own territory and try to lure a female to join them. But, with the way kids are nowadays, you can never be sure...