Sandbox shares another of Nature's tales of Woe:
I guess they are curious as it did not take very long before they started following us around the pond. Everything was well and good until one of them took down my 55 lb bird dog.
Sorry to hear that one, Sandbox...
Honestly, I'm watchin' this documentary on Natl Geo Explorer about gators at Sanibel Island while this thread is developing. To see them EXPLODE from beneath the water at the shoreline and grab a victim before they can even twitch is blood-chilling.
From what I have been reading, gators only eat what they can swallow whole
Perhaps, but they have no problem taking down a 200# man, ripping off his leg and leaving him to bleed out.
Bottom Line: this wild animal cannot be assumed to any level of domestic behavior to any degree of certainty. The thought of knowing that I couldn't walk within 20 feet of my pond without carefully scouring the water surface for 2 beady eyes and the tip of a snout would "make or break" my spirit and attitude. Swim? Fuggedaboutit! This is a perfect example of having "zero" chances; the first bad story will document irrevocable regret.
Ya know, how often I hear stuff like this and walk away relieved to know that I don't have to deal that in MY backyard. Then my next door neighbor has a pal drown in his pond during a freak accident. I think about how crazy California Guy is to live in an area that lives in fear of earthquakes and wildfires...sure am glad I don't. Then a twister rips thru a neighboring town killing dozens. You can run, but you can't hide.
