View Full Version : OT: Only in Florida -- gator tossing
Keith A
02-09-2016, 09:30 AM
Well I've been in Florida a long time, and we have plenty of gators around here...but this is the first time I've heard of someone tossing a live gator into a drive-through window. The accused is being charged with an assault with a deadly weapon.
http://www.wjrr.com/onair/lynch-taco-39830/florida-man-tosses-live-gator-through-14361626/
rePhil
02-09-2016, 10:16 AM
That's near one of our kids / grandkids homes. I have encountered two gators while cycling. One was actually in the bike lane, the other was in full gallop a few feet away.
Well I've been in Florida a long time, and we have plenty of gators around here...but this is the first time I've heard of someone tossing a live gator into a drive-through window. The accused is being charged with an assault with a deadly weapon.
http://www.wjrr.com/onair/lynch-taco-39830/florida-man-tosses-live-gator-through-14361626/
Ralph
02-09-2016, 10:44 AM
My gator story took place on the General James Van Fleet Trail......a 29 mile (one way) rail trail thru the Green Swamp between Groveland and Auburndale, Fl.....is flat as a pancake and has only one curve. No side roads either.....so it's popular with TRI riders for training. Also popular for training road riders who want to go flat out for 29 miles each way in an aero position. Good lunch spot at Auburndale side also.
My wife has RA affecting her knees, and can ride 15-20 miles on these flat trails without hurting. So occasionally I go trail riding with her on my hybrid bike.
One day we were out on this trail about 10 miles from the Groveland side.....and came across this gator laying across the trail. Must have been about a 13-15 foot gator because he totally blocked the trail and hung off each side. He wasn't afraid of us...and didn't seem to want to move away either.
My wife...who is terrified of gators.....came to a screeching halt....and yelled at me "that's it" "Take me home".
Needless to say we haven't been back on that trail together.
rePhil
02-09-2016, 11:48 AM
One of my personal favorite gator stories....( Live long enough in Fl and you eventually will have a few)
We took the kids up north on vacation and ended up on a lake beach complete with plenty of swimmers and sun bathers. All three boys stopped dead in their tracks at waters edge. One asked if it was fresh or salt water? When told it was fresh water one of them replied...so there's gators in it right?
Then we had them explain that they were from Fl.
Keith A
02-09-2016, 12:39 PM
One of my gator stories comes from when paddling and not peddling.
We took a group of youth from our church on a day canoe trip in one of the many rivers (or creeks) we have...and it is pretty common to see at least one gator on most trips. On this trip, we had 1/2 dozen or so canoes and somewhere along the way, we saw a pretty good sized gator...but didn't think much about it. I was in the lead canoe and we would stop ever now and then to make sure everyone was still with us. So we stopped and waited, and we were missing one of the canoes with a female leader and some girls. We waited for a while longer and then, someone went back to check on them. Well this gator had enough of people trespassing his/her territory and was aggressively blocking their path and would not let this canoe pass by. Needless to say the girls and leader were completely freaked out and stayed next to us the rest of the trip.
bcroslin
02-09-2016, 12:53 PM
Loxahatchee might be in Palm Beach County but it might as well be in rural Mississippi. What makes FL an "interesting" place to live is that outside of the city centers it's the rural south in all it's confederate flag waving glory.
Keith A
02-09-2016, 12:55 PM
Loxahatchee might be in Palm Beach County but it might as well be in rural Mississippi. What makes FL an "interesting" place to live is that outside of the city centers it's the rural south in all it's confederate flag waving glory.We often joke that the father north in Florida you go, the more Southern it is.
firerescuefin
02-09-2016, 12:57 PM
Loxahatchee might be in Palm Beach County but it might as well be in rural Mississippi. What makes FL an "interesting" place to live is that outside of the city centers it's the rural south in all it's confederate flag waving glory.
Little bit of an overgeneralization. Plenty of small towns that are nice places to live. There certainly is a rural Lower Alabama present in certain spots, but I wouldn't paint the entire state (outside the cities) as such.
bcroslin
02-09-2016, 05:39 PM
We often joke that the father north in Florida you go, the more Southern it is.
This.
Little bit of an overgeneralization. Plenty of small towns that are nice places to live. There certainly is a rural Lower Alabama present in certain spots, but I wouldn't paint the entire state (outside the cities) as such.
I was born here, schooled here and I have lived, worked and traveled all over the entire state. Rural in FL equals "the South." Miami, Tampa Bay, Orlando and Gainesville might as well be in another hemisphere from places like Loxahatchee, Blanton, Waldo, Perry or Blountstown. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing but it's definitely part of the "charm" of living here.
milkbaby
02-09-2016, 06:03 PM
If you ain't a Gator, then you're Gator bait! :hello:
Full disclosure: I'm a University of Florida alumnus.
I was running on campus one night and saw what looked like a practical joke. There's a gator statue outside the football stadium that's like 10 foot long, and I thought somebody had stolen it and put it on the road. When I got closer I realized it was a real gator when it slowly moved it's foot. Thank god I was wearing my eyeglasses or I wouldn't have seen it until possibly too late.
I also remember once as a teenager swimming in the river and seeing a gator not too far off just minding its own business. I don't know why it didn't bother me at the time, but it freaks me out to think about it today.
I'm still mystified by people that drive up to the drive thru window with a pet raccoon in their lap.
Frankwurst
02-09-2016, 06:56 PM
We often joke that the father north in Florida you go, the more Southern it is.
Not a joke. Fact. Lived there for 17+ years, loved it and still miss it. But as is normally the case and as they would say....friggin Yankees have found it.:beer:
Peter P.
02-09-2016, 08:39 PM
If you've ever ridden D2R2, and the 180k route, you would have ridden on Royer Road. It's a rutted jeep trail at best.
One year someone placed an inflatable alligator in one of the puddles.
D2R2 is in Massachusetts...
Keith A
02-09-2016, 09:56 PM
University of Florida alumnus too. Plenty of gators in that town...including the reptile kind (especially around Lake Alice).
http://www.wuft.org/news/2015/11/12/alligator-crashes-uf-students-lake-alice-picnic/
BobbyJones
02-09-2016, 10:09 PM
"The Florida in my novels is not as seedy as the real Florida. It's hard to stay ahead of the curve. Every time I write a scene that I think is the sickest thing I have ever dreamed up, it is surpassed by something that happens in real life."
-Carl Hiassen
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