Gotta Vent: Gator vs. Dog Ends Poorly

Carl

Carl

Well-known member
Staff member
I gotta vent.
Guy on fishing forum just posted up that his dad took the family lab to an access area on the Mobile-Tensaw Delta to throw the bumper two days ago. A 10-12' gator grabbed the dog, never to be seen again. The whole family is obviously very shook up and all. Everyone on the forum is offering condolences, etc...
BUT: This place is known for alligators. BIG Gators. Especially this specific lake in the Delta. We just had our gator season and the papers were full of stories of 10-14' (yes: 14') gators being killed. Why in the world anyone would think it is safe to put a dog into the water this time of year in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta is beyond me. I really feel for the guys, but I also wanted to post up and ask them what the hell they were thinking. But I refrained.
OK, thanks for letting me vent!
 
That is a tough one, I know I'd be horrified and crushed if it were me.

I'd think the risk of an alligator attack is low, even in an area infested with gators. We all do things that endanger our dogs and try to manage risk - more or less... Many folks don't train their dogs to the extent that they will come when they need to, which is dangerous. Many dogs break on the shot, which is dangerous. Many dogs ride on the bow of a boat, which is dangerous. Many guys hunt their dogs in strong currents and ice cold water, which is dangerous. etc... I do or have done some of those and more....

I've had a dog bit by a snake. I knew there were snakes there and still hunted anyway. I still hunt in areas with snakes when they are active.

Raw deal for the guy and dog and he could have probably chosen bette. Not to be overly callous, but it is what it is.

T
 
That is why I hunt waterfowl up here in MT!
Im serious, I would never hunt a dog in Gator country, the worst thing I have is rattlesnakes and even then I won't run my labs till its cold out.
 
Hunting regular (Thanksgiving thru end of Jan.) season is fine, gators are holed up for the winter.
But outside of mid-Nov. thru the end of March, there is no safe time or place for a dog to swim in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta.
Period.
 
Amanda Stokes and her party (John Stokes, Savanah, Kevin and Parker Jenkins) from Thomaston, AL hauled in this 15 foot, 1011.5 pound gator from the waters near Millers Ferry Saturday morning, August 16, 2014 . This is the largest gator to come out of the West-Central region of Alabama during a regulated alligator hunt. Congratulations to Amanda!
AStokes3_2.jpg

 
Very sad lesson to learn. That's why I never could've had a dog when I lived in Florida. Maybe a freak accident but not a risk I'd be willing to take.
 
I hunted a bunch down in Texas and when Fred took us to Choke Canyon, he left the dogs back at the ranch. Asked him............why???? He said that the gators AND catfish would take a 70 lb. lab right off the surface of the water. We also watched closely where WE were during hunting. ;)
Lou
 
When I was in grad school at UF I would sometimes walk around Lake Alice on campus. They tried to keep only gators under six foot in the lake. There always seemed to be some bigger than that in the lake. The gators were use to people and usually would not respond. On several occasions I had my lab with me and gators who only had their eyes above water would raise their nostrils above water to get a wiff of my dog.

I never had any close calls with my lab. But, I only let him swim in water I knew was gator free in warm weather. That usually meant a drive out to Cedar Key to swim in the saltwater. I did hunt waterfowl with him when it got cold but I was still cautious.

Tom
 
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