I admit it, I'm dumb about alligators.

[Eleanors38]

19. There are twice as many alligators than deer in Florida...

If there are no alligators in a water body, don't swim in it -- the water is bad. Always approach a shoreline carefully. Any gator or croc can lay just below the surface without moving in hopes a small animal will come near enough. Swimming in lakes, rivers during late spring (hello!) is dangerous because female gators are on nest, which can be a hollowed out space at and below the -- yep -- shore of a water body.

In the middle of the U of F. Campus (50k students), gators occupy tiny ponds in the core of the arts & sciences area, and move back & forth when they feel like it. Lake Alice (a fair sized one) is full of ruby lights st night, and during chiily days gators will sun themselves on spits where tourists come to view wildlife. On the edge of the Col. of Ag is an even larger lake (Bivens Arm) where at one time there were more gators per acre than anywhere else in the state.

But the biggest are a few miles away on Payne's Prairie State Park. You can see some leviathans in the 13-14' range. The ranger there said there are likely some 16'-footers in the mix. These approach the legendary monsters written about when Florida was a frontier. Here, you can walk among them along an old 19th century dyke at your own risk. If a gator is hanging out there, don't get near. When they move, it is special effects speed.