Port Richey...Gators??? (house, buy, live)

[SwampRat621]

Hey Guys, stupid question (maybe) I am looking at some homes right on the lake in Port Richey. I am wondering if there will be gators in the lakes coming up onto my back lawn? Worried about my dog. Are the gators just in the swamps? Anyone know how big a problem this will be and do they recommend home on the lake?

[On-da-Beach]

Originally Posted by SwampRat621

Hey Guys, stupid question (maybe) I am looking at some homes right on the lake in Port Richey. I am wondering if there will be gators in the lakes coming up onto my back lawn? Worried about my dog. Are the gators just in the swamps? Anyone know how big a problem this will be and do they recommend home on the lake?

What lake are you looking at? Some are more prone to gators than others but yes they are out there. Moon Lake= gators. I would not buy a home on a lake if I had dogs. It doesn't usually work out for the dogs very well.

[SwampRat621]

The Lake is LAKE CHRISIE

[On-da-Beach]

Lake Chrise is probably one of the safer lakes due to being surrounded by homes. I still wouldn't have dogs around it though. Dogs have some kind of need to challenge gators. Gators love to eat dogs. Dogs don't learn this until it's too late.

[Keeper]

I don't think there are any lakes that you can guarantee to be free of gators. They may not have one 'now' but gators do travel especially during mating season.

I lived on a lake for several years with no gators after one was removed for getting a dog who was swimming in the lake. After I moved I went back to the lake and there was a gator laying on top of the water. There was a lady walking her dog in a public park who got too close to the edge of a lake when a gator grabbed the dog. There is a retention pond in from of International Mall, a guy took his lab there for a swim never dreaming there was a gator in a retention pond.

[tilli]

In Florida it is always safest to assume that there are gators in any body of freshwater deep enough for them to swim, even if you have never seen one in a particular body of water. I have personally seen gators in the rivers in preservation areas, in canals and on the side of the road in the suburbs, in retention ponds inside urban areas, and most memorably - in a residential swimming pool during a long drought period. They like to go walkabout, and one day there may be a gator where there wasn't one yesterday.

Gators are ambush hunters. They have a strong advantage when attacking from water because they can utilize their strong tail to propel them with unbelievable speed. Never allow a dog or toddler to walk along the shoreline where the gator can attack from a favorable position in the water. Stay ten feet or so back from the shoreline and any gators will likely consider it too much effort to reach you since they will have to lose their advantage and travel over land to get to you. Be especially careful near dawn and dusk during mating season. Don't allow your dog to run free near any questionable bodies of water. If you decide to go for a house on the lake, a sturdy fence will deter most gators although a really motivated one can supposedly climb some types of fencing. Generally they are not that motivated.