Swimming in canals? (to move, car, office)

[CptnRn]

Lets not blow this all out of proportion.

Statistically you are far more likely to get attacked by a shark then an alligator. And you are more likely to die of obesity or a drunken driver than from an alligator attack, or even be injured by an alligator gar.

Map of United States (incl. Hawaii) Confirmed Unprovoked Shark Attacks

Alligator Attacks statistics - states compared - StateMaster

StateMaster - Texan Health statistics

You should be running in fear from Dunkin Donuts, or your local liquor store, instead of sharks, alligators and gars.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by CCMan

I've been attacked by great white sharks over 40 times while swimming in the canals.

You must taste really nasty. They all spit you out!!!

What was the name of that after shave you have been using?

[CalallenMom]

...Watching the Texas News Channel right now -- a woman walked out to her car and found an alligator hanging out underneath her vehicle, ha. Made me think of this thread.

[produrre]

That's funny. I watched the news tonight, too and a man in Baton Rouge Louisiana was washing his vehicle and squatted down to find a 6' alligator under his car. It took 7 police officers to move the gator.

[floridalooking]

Originally Posted by missWendyS

So, Im confused. are the canals clean, pretty and swimmable, or dirty, polluted and shark and gator infested? Ive heard both sides in this thread and want to know If I do move to CC or the surrounding areas where it is safe for my kids to play and swim. One of the main reasons Im bypassing Florida, despite its beauty, is the Gators. Im afraid my daughters will try and swim in our pool and get attacked. I had no clue there were gators in Texas too, there arent any on the California coast

I caught sharks off of a pier in So Ca and almost had my arm taken off by a barracuda.
There have been a couple of gators on golf courses here and there was a large one in a canal on the Southside that animal control knew of and choose to leave it alone until it got too close to houses.
Are you getting a feel for why we don't call this the Atlantic ocean now after reading some of the posts?

[floridalooking]

Originally Posted by produrre

That's funny. I watched the news tonight, too and a man in Baton Rouge Louisiana was washing his vehicle and squatted down to find a 6' alligator under his car. It took 7 police officers to move the gator.

Remember seeing the footage of the gator in Fl that had a community up in arms that surrounded a small lake? Animal control made fun of the people who were ranting about it as they were worried about their children and pets.
One of the men who made fun of the people in the community that backed up to that lake then went out in a boat to show them there was no problem with the critter.....and became the gator's dinner when the gator grabbed his oar and pulled him in for dinner time.
It wasn't much fun to watch but probably woke some people up

[islandjer]

What?................... We live on Padre Island and we swim in the canals all the time! There are no Aligators in the canals - the canals are salt water and not fresh water. There has never been a shark attack in the canal system, nor has there been any caught as far as I know of. To get a better idea of how the canals look, I have pictures on my website. As far as them being like a storm sewer, yes they are man made, however, they are salt water. As such, they have a tidal influence which keeps water moving in and out of the canals. I am a Realtor and would be happy to show you homes both on and off the island. Let's go swimming!!!!!

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by islandjer

What?................... We live on Padre Island and we swim in the canals all the time! There are no Aligators in the canals - the canals are salt water and not fresh water. There has never been a shark attack in the canal system, nor has there been any caught as far as I know of. To get a better idea of how the canals look, I have pictures on my website. As far as them being like a storm sewer, yes they are man made, however, they are salt water. As such, they have a tidal influence which keeps water moving in and out of the canals. I am a Realtor and would be happy to show you homes both on and off the island. Let's go swimming!!!!!

No one ever said there were sharks in the canals. Where did you get that?

The majority of the water flowing into residential canals is from the storm sewer system, running off of the streets. There is no salt water or fresh water recharge system in place for any of them to flush them out, so its pretty much all storm sewer run off. Go ahead and keep fooling yourself if you want to.

If you live on Padre Island then it is possible that your canal system is feed with water from the Gulf, if it has canal directly accessing the gulf, backing up thru the canals. But its far more likely that the water comes from the bay and stormwater run off. Which is still salty but not "salt water". There are alligators on the barrier islands, which are just the other side of the bay from where I took this photo, at the Aransas Wildlife Refuge. Do you really think they never swim across?

You go swimming, I will stand guard!

[Chelito23]

Being from South Florida, land o' gators, YES, there are alligators in fresh water swamps, canals and lakes. The saltwater, or brackish water estuaries, bays, canals and tidal basins are home to crocodiles, the salt-water equivelent of the alligator. They ARE out there and while attack may be low on humans, that is because people generally don't go swimming in alligator or crocodile infested waters, that would be suicide. In general, if you come across an alligator from a distance, you would turn around and not continue. That is why they say that attacks are rare-the alligators aren't out stalking us. But, if you approach them in their habitat, they will attack. Sometimes people do this unknowingly and then have problems.

Be careful if you decide to swim in brackish water or canals...fortunately, they don't appear in the "ocean" or open gulf wates, they like protected areas more, so the beached are safe.

[elvalle_mayne]

Originally Posted by fschmidt

CalallenMom and elvalle_mayne,

Are the canals you mentioned in Corpus Christi or Rockport?

No, McAllen. This was when I was a lot younger though round late Elementary/Early-Middle School Days when McAllen was all ghetto and dirty.