will fence keep gators out (Orlando, Sarasota: real estate, houses, maintenance)

[4dogs4me]

I'm house searching & I noticed that a lot of them have some kind of water around it. It will either have a pond or lake. I'm thinking that living near water would not be a good thing. 1st, the scare of my little dogs being eaten & 2nd, I wonder if being by water would mean more mosquitos. But if I did find a house I liked & it did have a small pond, if I put a fence around the pond, would that keep the gators out? I'm thinking that they couldn't crawl over one, but not a gator expert, so don't know. Also would they chew through it if they wanted in it? Also would it make the mosquitos worse by living by a lake or pond? I see some of the house ads saying that it's by a water skiing lake, wouldn't there be gators in it & wouldn't you have to worry about being bitten or eaten by one if you fell in? Eekkk.. too scary for me, I think. What do you think? Thanks.

[wiltznucs]

A fence would certainly deter larger gators which are capable of eating your pets. Smaller nonthreatening gators may be able to find their way in, be sliding through the rails or underneath. I dont know that I'd lose a lot of sleep over gators if you have a fence.

Any body of standing water will attract mosquitoes, especially is theres high grass or weeds nearby. Treating the water has limited affect, so if your wanting a waterfront home you may have to accept that mosquitoes will be there.

[Kathleen1971]

They can crawl over them if they really want to. And mosquitoes are everywhere during certain times of the year. This is Florida after all.

[Nav]

Any larger lake that has wave action will deter mosquitoes. Unfortunately, the realtors here are quick to classify a home on a retention pond as "waterfront" when in reality, its on a glorified drainage ditch. Retention ponds will attract mosquitoes but if it has lots of small fish, they will keep the population down. As for Gators, fences are a mere annoyance. If the gator wants your dog, it will get your dog. Chain link wont stop them. Back 3 years ago, I lived on Lake Valrico and a neighbor 4 doors down lost her elderly snauzer. It would sit by the chain link fence and bark at the gators. Unfortunately a fairly large gator ripped a hole through the chain link and got him. When the trappers arrived, they got the gator. It was a 13ft 1100 lb beast. The chain link was in shreads.

I dont mean to scare you, but a good fence will usually "deter" a lot of gators. If your dog is prone to sit and bark at "big things" then I would consider a double fence or just keep him up near the house. Alligators are not typical animals...they are not frightened by humans like most animals. They will stare you down. Its pretty un-nerving if you are new to the species. Usually, if you leave them alone, they will pretty much leave them alone. If you ever feed them, they will never leave and become more aggressive. At this point they will have to be removed and destroyed.

I have first hand gator knowledge. I was once cleaning out some weeds by the lake and I got too close to a baby gator. The mother saw me and charged me. I had plenty of room since I saw her coming but she did chase me 15 feet up on the land. Then she turned and walked back to the water.
Luckily, she was only a tiny 6 footer. Gators don't bother me but I do have a new respect for them.

Nav

[bentlebee]

Mosquitos are way worse near the water...and Pasco county has cars driving around at night who spray against mosquitos which helps a lot, but you can use a repellent spray and they help out very well.

Gators can also show up at the front door or in the garage...but mostly if you live close to a pond or other water...I don't live at a pond and never saw the gators other than near the pond. We had a report and I saw pics of a gator at a front door of a house that backed up to a pond and a friend of my who lives in Sarasota once had a gator under his car in the garage.

Just watch some shows and you can see all kinds of animals in garages or houses if you leave the doors open...

We got an emergency request of a neighbor to request for a fence since 2 gators were at their sliding door at the bakwhich was backed up to a pond....the pictures were proof. They had the fence up and I never heard that the gators came back, but to leave a dog outside near a pond even if there is a fence.....

[4dogs4me]

Will gators go after horses? Has anyone heard of a gator attacking or killing a horse. Would an electric fence stop a gator? How far will a gator go from the water? Do you have to worry about one coming onto your property if there is a water source in the general area, like in the development or a few houses away?

[Annieinmn]

I was wondering the same thing about water-skiing too! In MN we play in our lakes... I dont think I would be too quick to jump in if I even suspected there was a gator!

[tjax1000]

Originally Posted by Nav

Unfortunately, the realtors here are quick to classify a home on a retention pond as "waterfront" when in reality, its on a glorified drainage ditch.

+1. I would go out of my way to avoid "premium real estate" as they call it... "waterfront living" on ditch. In fact, Nav, I'd say in many cases there isn't even any glorification, they are just plain nasty, stagnant retention ditches.

The also incur a greater expense to HOAs, since special maintenance is required. Not sure if sometimes the HO on the ditch has to pay the premium or if it is spread out over everybody.

Many HOAs won't let you actually fence your whole back yard in if you live on the ditch. You can do the sides but sometimes not the back, or it has to be specific kind of fence (e.g. decorative iron, etc.)

Also, most ditches are small and you may have a view of a ton of other houses around the dtich from your back yard. Bye bye, privacy.

As a parent of a young child, I really don't like having the increased risk of drowning, gator attack, etc.

As already mentioned, these ditches are a magnet for snakes, mosquitoes and gators.

Lastly, they are worthless for anything water related. You won't be snorkling, swimming, fishing, boating, etc. in this type of ditch. Some will argue that they fish- all I can say is yuck. I don't even want to touch a fish out of one of those places.

Oh, and did I mention you'll pay MUCH MORE for your wonderful new "waterfront" house? I say, PASS.

[tjax1000]

Originally Posted by 4dogs4me

Do you have to worry about one coming onto your property if there is a water source in the general area, like in the development or a few houses away?

Yes. Growing up in FL I saw gators end up everywhere. Occasionally you'd find one dead in a back yard pool a good distance from any water. I can't cite the exact distance but I remember it being a surprise and having to think "now where did this thing even come from?"

Keep in mind most of FL used to be swamp. To drain the swamp requires retention areas. So you're never that far away from water, whether you know it or not.

I seriously doubt an electric fence would help. I think there are many reasons why it wouldn't work. A while back a gator bit a horse in Orlando. Gator Attacks Horse, Drags Animal Into Pond - Orlando News Story - WKMG Orlando (http://www.clickorlando.com/news/803164/detail.html - broken link)

The horse thing was uncommon though. Dogs and small children probably have the most to fear.

[jessez]

Originally Posted by Annieinmn

I was wondering the same thing about water-skiing too! In MN we play in our lakes... I dont think I would be too quick to jump in if I even suspected there was a gator!

As for water-skiing - that all depends on the lake. I had family that lived up in land-o-lakes and we went water skiing, swam, fished, and had a diving platform near the middle of the lake and never had problems. Grandpa was more worried about snakes than the gators.