However, sometimes unsuspecting pets, children and adults can be appetizers for the gator! It happens!
I was near this pond last night in a neighborhood I was visiting where a good friend of mine lives, in North Augusta, SC!
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
THE SOUTH HAS ITS DANGEROUS SIDE, BUT THESE MAKE GREAT BELTS, PURSES AND SHOES, NOT TO MENTION APPEPTIZERS
Don't knock alligator tail deep fried and spicy as an appetizer. It's great! As Tony the Tiger would say.
However, sometimes unsuspecting pets, children and adults can be appetizers for the gator! It happens!
I was near this pond last night in a neighborhood I was visiting where a good friend of mine lives, in North Augusta, SC!
An alligator stealthily swims
through pieces of moss growing in the still waters at Brick Pond Park in
North Augusta on Monday afternoon.
However, sometimes unsuspecting pets, children and adults can be appetizers for the gator! It happens!
I was near this pond last night in a neighborhood I was visiting where a good friend of mine lives, in North Augusta, SC!
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9 comments:
Father, you may remember years ago there was a Getman's (spelling?) pond over In North Augusta, near the Hwy 25 bridge connecting Augusta and the "other" (North) Augusta. Apparently it was a popular hangout for many folks up until the 1950s or even later (before A/C and swimming pools became common). Reportedly you had to be careful swimming in that area because water moccasins could be nearby! No doubt if some clergy felt that "snake handling" was to be a component of their worship, they would find plenty of critters in the Augusta area! Today Getman's is overgrown, probably lots of snakes in that area.
Some years back, a 14-foot alligator was spotted off of Riverwalk in downtown Augusta.
If I am correct, Augusta and the Fall Line cities of Macon and Columbus are pretty much the upper limit for alligators in Georgia---thankfully a rare sight in Atlanta. They would not last long in the Chattahoochee, which can get real cold in the winter because of water coming from the bottom of deep Lake Lanier. Thankfully not many water moccasins in the Atlanta area---though we have our share of pesky copperheads!
No, gators are above the fall line. They have been seen in Lake Sinclair, Lake Jackson and the Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers and swamps around Milledgeville and Eatonton. Some may have been released by illegal pet owners, but I expect a few have migrated up river. Generally, except for mating and nesting season, they are not aggressive. If you are being eaten it is probably a crocodile.
When I visited the south I saw a number of alligators and have photos to prove it - some even lazing on the banks of canals. I can also recommend the swamp tour. Not to mention the giant cicadas. What a shock to the first settlors - were the alligators introduced or always there?
Jan
The Okefenokee swamp in south Georgia near Waycross is full of them. Augusta and Macon are about as far north as they wander. They are on the rebound as is Florida when they were hunted almost to extinction for hides.
The giant cicadas came out in full force about three or four years ago and the noise they make is unbelievable. You think you are in a scifi movie with sound effects. But they are especially loud each summer and for me I find it soothing and a reminder of the lazy, hazy days of summer in the south when students are out of school.
The gators have been here for millions and millions of years.
If I am correct, Augusta and the Fall Line cities of Macon and Columbus are pretty much the upper limit for alligators in Georgia---thankfully a rare sight in Atlanta. They would not last long in the Chattahoochee, which can get real cold in the winter because of water coming from the bottom of deep Lake Lanier. Thankfully not many water moccasins in the Atlanta area---though we have our share of pesky copperheads!
There was an alligator spotted in the Chattahoochee several years ago in the Sandy Springs area.
How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale.
How cheerfully he seems to grin
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws.
Perhaps this poem is a metaphor for the post-Vat II Church...
I think with regard to alligators in the Chattahoochee in Atlanta, more likely those are from illegal pet owners who find the gator to big to handle---Chattahoochee water can dip into the 40s in the winter---not conducive for gators. And Atlanta usually is colder than the Fall Line cities. We had some single digit temps last winter...a few years a gator was spotted in Des Moines of all places, doubtless dumped there.
Perhaps another sign (for those wishing to perform river or lake baptisms, common in the old days) should be posted at that North Augusta site: "Baptize at your own risk!"
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