Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

[AndyFL]

Summer is here and I was planning a family fun day for tubing, swimming, etc. at one of the many Central Florida area lakes. I was considering boating on Butler Chain of Lakes or St.John's River.

However, we are very concern about alligators, snakes, ect while swimming in these areas...should we?

 

[fishon13]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

I grew up in Fort Lauderdale we went swiming and hydro sliding, skiing, etc. sometimes within site of many gators. unless someone is feeding them theres no problem. Gator attacks are extremly rare, they are normally more affraid of you and the noise. My dad had an airboat when I was a kid sometimes we would hit a cypruss stump at night (frog gigging) thats when I would get scared. depending on what type of boat you have head to the coast. bigger waves more air more fun. What part of Central FL do you live in? Lake Toho (nick name don't want to butcher the real name ) is nice 2 large spring fed lakes. If you don't know the lake I"ll look it up, but you should be able to goggle it off the nick name.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

Of course you should be aware and be concerned about them. But it wouldn't stop me from getting in the water.
As an Ohioan who moved to Florida in 1995, I was worried about them too. But after countless times in the water, I don't anymore.

The big keys:

Stay away from the shoreline near dawn and dusk.
Stay out of the water at night

Gators are not very active in the heat of the day, and wil almost certainly be hiding in the weeds or whatever other cover they can find near the shoreline. So maybe staying away from the shoreline is a good idea, all the time.

Oh, and don't let your dog(s) explore the shoreline, attacks on dogs are not rare.

 

[fishon13]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

I don't know about staying out of the water at night we used to go to a rope swing at night and use are head lights of coarse we were teenagers then. You know the saying young dumb and full of *** or hurry up and hire a teenager while they still know everything. If your watchful they won't be a problem.

 

[IVAZ]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

I use to work marking wetlands for a development company. Then I would go back to those areas with the Army Corp of Engineers to prove there were no encroachments. I have crossed water that was neck high and deeper in the presence of gaters and moccasins. It was scary at first but after 7 years of doing it I got used to it. The only issues I had were leaches and insect bites.
One time I did drive someone to ER for a snake bite. The snake was minding its own business and one of the guys in my crew decided he wanted to handle it. Big mistake.
Leave the wildlife alone and they will just hide from you. Mess with them and they will defend themselves.

 

[fishon13]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

Ivaz where do you do that job I never had a leech in FL?

 

[IVAZ]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

Fort Bend County in Texas.

 

[fishon13]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

Thanks if I'm in Texas again I'll bring my salt

 

[AndyFL]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

What part of Central FL do you live in?

I live in Ocooe, about 30 mins west of Orlando.

I googled Lake Toho and it's south of Orlando, near Kissimmee.

Thanks for the info everyone!

 

[IVAZ]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

Aside from being gross the leeches were never too bad. I got my share of spider bites and ticks latch on. Most of these wetlands are infested with Poison Ivy as well but luckily I have a high tolerance to it. The worst incident I had was 40+ bee stings to the face and neck. I had to drive myself to the ER that time.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

I live in Ocooe, about 30 mins west of Orlando.

You live in a great place to check out all the inland lakes. Don't worry about the gators, get out there and go boating!

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

Took this picture at the boat launch in St. Marks, Florida.

They have never bothered anyone, that I have heard of!

 

[Nico2112]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

What a great picture Rocky!

Leave the wildlife alone and they will just hide from you. Mess with them and they will defend themselves.
Totally agree with Ivaz.

Anyway, as mentioned, avoid dawn, dusk and night. Also try to stay as far away from shore as possible.

Here in El Salvador, we have gators in all the estuaries (not as plentiful as in FL), and just taking those precautions will give you peace of mind when enjoying with the family

Happy boating!

 

[BumbleBeeTuna]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

Took this picture at the boat launch in St. Marks, Florida.

They have never bothered anyone, that I have heard of!

Yeah. This picture just makes me want to jump right in and enjoy the water!

I was born and raised in central Florida. We used to wakeboard and fish all over the place. We never had any problems.

Like others have said, if you look for trouble you can find it.

 

[BigJ08]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

Also born and raised in Central Florida, been swimming in the lakes and creeks all my life. Just don't provoke the alligators and other predators. I have found that some of the more 'friendly' gators can get curious and may swim towards you, but they just want to who is in there territory. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

 

[fishon13]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

Glad you were able to find lake TOHO. Its not to far from your house great fishing and large enough to do some great water sports enjoy. Early spring great time to do a little bed fishing pole into the shallows look for white circles. You'll have to catch the males off the nest first. Then tease the female with a plastic worm, she pick it up to move it off her bed. This is great for catch and release our trophey bass.

 

[boys boating around]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

We enjoy Lake Conway also called the Conway Chain of Lakes. It's off of Orange Ave and Hoffner Ave. I'm lucky that I have a private ramp that I can use but the public launch is on Hoffner Ave just east of Orange Ave next to a church. I have never seen any gators here, though I'm sure they are around. Numerous homes on the lake have private sand beaches and one homeowner on the canal that connects the two lakes is always out in the water with his six dogs throwing balls to the dogs.

The boys and I swim, ski, and tube here all the time. We like to stay in the samller lake rather then going through the canal to the larger lake. The smaller lake (though not small) provides for more protection so the water is calmer and great for tubing.

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

Since it is safe to say that everyone agrees that there isn't anything to worry about...and the original poster hasn't been back for awhile...I just have to share this picture!

 

[dontask]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

I was born in Florida (1956). Don't expect alligators to follow any set of rules. Google this site--"List of alligator attacks in the United States by decades" Wiki . They bite when they want to, and you don't have to be harassing them or feeding them. The one death May 10th 2006 was 1 mile from my old house in Ft Lauderdale. The female was sitting on the bank and pulled in. Maybe the gators in the statistics didn't read some of these posts to know what behavior they are supposed to follow.

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: Central Fla Lakes & Alligators

Personally..I'm gonna steer clear of anything with a brain the size of a walnut and hasn't evolved much since the days when T-Rex's stomped the earth.

If I am in the water with a gator, I am no longer on top of the food chain!!