Kensington Metropark at the Oakland/Livingston County line between Brighton and New Hudson off I96 there were several sightings of an alligator about a year ago. Nothing was found last year but allegedly someone saw what they thought was one again maybe a month ago.

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:
^^^
Have you considered the possibility that a larger gator ate your five footer?

Damn near fell out my chair when I read this LoL- NOOOO HELL NOOOO Don't say that. LoL Thank God I only have a little less than an acre. I know there are no more of these suckers on my property.

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
I'm looking forward to your new gator skin cowboy boots at the next Sigforum Barbecue.

Can you lead him out with a chicken leg tied to a pole? Or put something better in the cage?

He already left somehow, someway, sometime and went somewhere so???????? That's what's so weird - Pulled a Magicman like in Talladega Nights--Now you see me, now you don't"

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Joan Wilder likes your boots:

I have a buddy that made me some grips from a water moccasin for my P229 Equinox. Hmmmmm, this gator would make alot of cool grips. Not worth getting in trouble though. I'd have the grips but no guns after they take them from me.

Sounds like your county is about like mine. I’m in your typical square burb. In my neighborhood we’ll get possums, raccoons, coyotes, and occasionally Bobcats and Armadillos. My city doesn’t use the plastic bin trash can type things for trash or recycles. You place your trash bag at the curb, and they give you free blue bags (2 rolls per year) for recycles. The trash truck will often times roll through at 7:05am. Well my life doesn’t revolve around the city’s trash truck schedule. And it shouldn’t given I pay these mother fuckers thousands and thousands of dollars every year for property tax. So it’ll be 10k a year, very very soon. Either way I don’t get up at dawn as I work a lot of hours, including nights and weekends.

So I’ll set my trash and recycle bags out the night before. If possum count is up, (raccoons are way less frequent), they’ll hit the trash. (Have cams and got them on cam many times) Next morning after the truck has left, they’ll be egg shells, coffee grounds, used paper towels, expired, fruit pieces (green part of strawberries, etc) a big fucking mess to the point I have to get the broom, dustpan, etc, and clean the entire mess up. Sometimes I need the garden hose to boot to hose the pavement down.

So the county has traps you can use for free. But you have to put a request in, and they only let you use it for up to a week before they are calling you and harassing you to get it back. Then when you do trap, they’ve gone all woke and demand whatever you caught, is out of the sun. I usually say something to the effect of “Should I just keep the wild animal inside the house, in the trap, until you make your way over so it can stay in the HVAC?” The animal shelter acts like some bitches in some rainforest working on protecting endangered species. I’ve trapped skunks, stray cats, raccoons, and so many possums I cannot even recall how many. I call for the dog catcher to come by, and every time “The trap and animal need to be out of the sun.” My response is what are you going to do with the animal? “Euthanize it”. Each time I’m doing this A few years ago they stopped taking possums claiming they are native. Umm, yeah. I have my own traps now. Possum keeps coming around, I have the Mal mark it, keep it there, it’ll play Possum. I go inside, grab the pellet gun, put it out of its misery, bag it and walk it to the park and throw it in the bin. Oh I grab the neoprene gloves too, as I pick it up by its tail and put it in the trash bag. My Mal or GSD before can smell them from inside the house and they do their alert on it.

What the county could do, is give us the same plastic bin/trashcan things every other suburb has around here, but no, they refuse, all the while charging the same or more for property tax. Trash man costs are rolled into the water bill too. Next it will be raccoons they refuse to pick up or stray cats. They are just gonna euthanize it so one pop to the brain pan usually takes care of it. They like to root and fester in my mulch beds too.

At least they don't eat all of the bird seed out of your bird feeders like our dam squirrels.

So,
You got that going for you.

I'm taking notes and my first note is to check the pool before I get in.

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:

In my neighborhood we’ll get possums, raccoons, coyotes, and occasionally Bobcats and Armadillos.

Except for the Bobcats, we have all of those on a daily nightly basis. Plus black bears. A lot of black bears. Papa bear, and momma bear with cubs. Gray squirrels. Snakes. Mostly black snakes to keep the pest population under control, but the occasional coral snake shows up.

We're not rural. Barely even suburban. Houses with maybe ten or fifteen feet separation, the edge of our development is right on the Orlando city line. A lot of formerly wooded areas under development for more housing, and the critters scurry around at night, looking for food.

Judge
I was scared for my life, It was coming at me!

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
]Except for the Bobcats, we have all of those on a daily nightly basis. Plus black bears. A lot of black bears. Papa bear, and momma bear with cubs. Gray squirrels. Snakes. Mostly black snakes to keep the pest population under control, but the occasional coral snake shows up.

We're not rural. Barely even suburban. Houses with maybe ten or fifteen feet separation, the edge of our development is right on the Orlando city line. A lot of formerly wooded areas under development for more housing, and the critters scurry around at night, looking for food.

My SIL lives in the panhandle in a similar environment to what you describe. She has constant problems with bears getting into her trash. I never would have thought of Florida as a place where bears would be a problem until I saw what she has going on.

Had an 11 foot Gator walk down the street, he finally stopped in a neighbors driveway. Trapper came fairly quickly, took a bit of wrestling to get him in the truck

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Where I used to stay in Sanibel, which is home to Ding Darling NR (full of Gators) there was a pool. I was going to take a dip and discovered a Gator was snoozing peacefully poolside. Two elderly German tourist ladies were also lounging quite near the Gator. I pointed out that they were in close proximity to a prehistoric reptile that views them as a snack, but they seemed unconcerned. I called the Cops, who referred me to some dude who removed Gators.
He said:
"Go out to the pool and measure it. If its less than 6 feet long, we wont remove it"!
I did not pack a tape measure for my Florida visit, so no measuring took place. End of pool use for that visit. And I had just read a news report that an elderly lady was killed trying to rescue her dog from a Gator. But, hey, its Florida!

Ding Darling was my backyard for 35 years.
Sanibels nuisance gator policy was 8 feet before removal, the states is/was 4 feet. Sanibel changed to state policy after 2 died in separate gator attacks a quarter mile either side of my house

This holster should match your new boots nicely.
https://www.thesoutherntrapper...I6tduPP7OGFmkFORvjDm

Are you sure there was a gator in your pool? I mean, it's a unique experience, you figure someone would take pictures or video. Then, it miraculously disappears.

I have to wonder if maybe everyone else is just humoring you. "Sure, there's a gator in the pool. Take your pills, honey".

Wathc this twice, so you can get the concept.

quote:

Originally posted by Paten:
Are you sure there was a gator in your pool? I mean, it's a unique experience, you figure someone would take pictures or video. Then, it miraculously disappears.

I have to wonder if maybe everyone else is just humoring you. "Sure, there's a gator in the pool. Take your pills, honey".

POSITIVE! I have pics of it in the pool. I saw it for 4 days straight night and day

quote:

Originally posted by 400m:
This holster should match your new boots nicely.
https://www.thesoutherntrapper...I6tduPP7OGFmkFORvjDm

hahahahha refused to waste any part of the gator

A gator in the pool is almost as bad as a mamba in the washing machine.

Yes, when we were living in Africa, there was an incident with a mamba in the washing machine.

quote:

Originally posted by FLKev:

POSITIVE! I have pics of it in the pool. I saw it for 4 days straight night and day

Photoshopped?