Disney resort custodian says he warned managers they should have fences

[quaker bill]

18. Gators are ambush predators

snagging prey from the water's edge is how they feed themselves. I am an environmental scientist who works around Orlando. I wade in swamps that have gators in them. I am large enough to be seen as a threat, rather than a prey item by most of them. A two year old child is smaller than some of the wading birds and small deer that they take as prey. Gators are really fast for the first 50' or so and can hide on the lake bottom motionless for 20+ minutes waiting for prey to come into strike range, then come out of the water like a bolt of lightning.

Even I will stick to boats when in waters where the large ones hang, as I might seem like prey or a territorial competitor to a 12+ footer. In mating season (started some weeks ago) the big boys will take chunks out of each other if territory lines are crossed.

Gators have a very tiny brain. It operates like a 4 function calculator. If not asleep and they see something they then run the equation - - do I eat it? mate with it?, fight with it?, or run from it? One of the four gets a yes answer pretty much every time. Basically all of gator life falls within the answers to this set of questions. Three of the four answers are not good for a person.

Needless to say, making sure tourists and gators remain separate, unless the visitors want to go eco-tourist intentionally with an experienced guide, will always be a great idea.