> hello all,

> I'm looking for information about alligators behavior, descriptions of
> attacks & any other paddling/alligator relevant info.

> It's time to start paddling, but I don't intend to take even the smallest
> risk.

> does anybody have such info ?

> or knows about somebody else who knows....?

> thanks in advance

> erez

I grew up in south Georgia and formerly did a lot of canoeing and fishing around alligators. The rules that we used were: 1. Never take a dog along. 2. Don't swim in water with alligators. 3. Don't clean fish at the water's edge. Get far enough away so that you can see an alligator approach. 4. Don't assume you can outrun an alligator on land. 5. Take small children along only with caution. If small children are present they should be in the boat and always with an adult. 6. If you capsize in water with alligators, the first priority is to right the boat and get back in. Retrieving gear should be secondary.

Remember, a large alligator has a brain about the size of a softball and is only capable of simple processing. From the alligator's perspective a 15 foot canoe is way too big for it to attack because it could get hurt or perhaps killed and eaten. An adult human is probably too large for all except the largest (over 10 feet) alligators. A small child is potentially prey and that is why an adult should be close by. A toy poodle is just about perfect!! I have heard stories of alligators attacking boats that contained dogs.

BTW, I have seen the photograph of the golfer in the gator before. The story I heard was that the golfer played ahead of his buddies and was trying to retrieve a ball hit into a water hazard. I think the alligator's name was Ol' Mose and that he was supposed to be about 20 feet long. If this information is correct, I would say the golfer was violating some important rules, he was at the water's edge or may actually have been wading, and he was doing it alone in the presence of an alligator large enough to consider him as prey.