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Gators do not inhabit salt water, they do venture into brackish water often, and can tolerate salt water for short periods. If you are in a high use area the gators tend to stay away unless they are being fed or find human food left behind, like in picnic areas, usually the smaller the gator the more aggressive, the larger ones tend to shy away from people as they see them more as a threat than a food source.
OleTom when's the last time you were in the Ashley River? it's pure salt water and full of gators, as well as in other salt waters around here... of course there is usually some body of fresh water near because the gators can't tolerate salt water for too long, but you will see them out on the banks as well as in the water in many of our salt water rivers
most of the gators in the Ashley are near Magnolia Gardens, there are several brackish ponds in there where they live...
And if you don't have a dog to send ahead, just send Grandma.
Gators don't shy away from people, just talk to the ones who have found gators under their cars in the morning or in their swimming pools. A woman in Florida discovered one big guy that came through the screen door and ended up in her kitchen. She wouldn't have discovered it if the gator hadn't started making that hissing noise. She thought she left a kettle on the stove and freaked when she discovered it in there.
We are taking their habitat from them so where are they supposed to go.
OleTom when's the last time you were in the Ashley River? it's pure salt water and full of gators, as well as in other salt waters around here... of course there is usually some body of fresh water near because the gators can't tolerate salt water for too long, but you will see them out on the banks as well as in the water in many of our salt water rivers
most of the gators in the Ashley are near Magnolia Gardens, there are several brackish ponds in there where they live...
I have to disagree. The Ashley River may be tidal, but it is also freshwater fed. By the time you get up around the major plantations, it's basically brackish. Same thing with the Cooper River. The boundary is a bit more defined there, at Bushy Park. Agree that both are home to a large population of gators. The Goose Creek Reservior and Mabelline Lodge probably have the largest concentrations of gators close to largely populated areas. Very few incidents of interaction.
You see this little fellow........He was at the edge of a small pond, just the other side of a golf course in NC.
Usually we see a huge alligator here so we took a look, and look what was looking back at us...
I have always read not to walk a dog along a place where they can just hide out and then grab them. Some horror stories are out there.
So.....I'd be keeping my kids away from any area they are. In fact " after" taking this picture I read that you should be 30 feet from an alligator.
This was a bit too close.......and there he was quite hidden.
Dogs are definitely a favorite of gators. When I worked at Wal-Mart I had a guy return a bunch of dog food because he was walking his dog by a lake and a gator charged out and took his dog. It wasn't a little dog either it was a cocker spaniel. I felt so bad for the guy.
People think gators are slow because of how slowly they move in the water but they are dead wrong. They can move pretty fast on land. The one thing I was told if a gator is coming at you, run in a straight line. They won't be able to see you.
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