IT'S JUST A BIG LIZZARD

YOU CAN’T BE TOO CAREFUL
By Jim Foster

PUBLISHED IN THE Port Isabel / South Padre Island Press - Friday September 21

Hunting seasons are here and each week more people head outdoors to enjoy hunting for various species as the seasons open. Many of these trips, especially waterfowlers, will be in close proximity to the many small ponds and resacas around the area.

It must be remembered that one of the oldest and largest of reptile predators lives near us and especially where we hunt and fish – the American Alligator (Alligator Mississippiensis).

A member of the crocodile family, alligators are living fossils that can be traced back 230 million years. Once on the brink of extinction, well over a million alligators can be found today in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and Georgia.

Adult alligators can reach up to 18 feet in length, although the average is 13 feet. An alligator's tail accounts for half of length. Male alligators, or bulls, are generally larger than females. On average, they weigh from 450 to 600 pounds.

Alligators can be found in rivers, swamps, bogs, lakes, ponds, creeks, canals, and bayous. Alligators can tolerate some salt water and have been spotted in marshes as well as a couple being caught from saltwater fishing piers.

In other words these big lizards can be a real threat to hunters and fishermen including their bird dogs that enter and swim in the water retrieving downed birds.

What an alligator can do was brought home in a news report in the SUN NEWS of a Summerville, South Carolina. About a man losing a battle with a big gator. South Carolina is not noted for large gator populations.

Bill Hedden, a retired master chief with the U.S. Navy, was snorkeling in Lake Moultrie at the Short Stay Navy Outdoor Recreation Area when the 550-pound alligator tore his arm off near the shoulder.

Hedden, 59, stumbled into a party of picnickers with his arm missing and blood gushing from his wound. Five nurses were among those at the gathering and put ice on his wound and kept him awake until paramedics could arrive.

His arm was retrieved from the belly of the 11-foot-10-inch alligator after wildlife officers shot the animal. The limb was rushed to the Medical University of South Carolina in an ice cooler with a police escort, but officials said Monday efforts to reattach the arm were unsuccessful.

Texas opened an early season on alligators this year and had a rather impressive number of kills in local resacas and ponds. The big guys are among us and it’s up to all to keep our dogs and ourselves safe. Do not enter the water nor allow your dog to enter water where gators have been seen. In areas of private property along the water keep an eye on children and don’t allow them to play near the water or heavy stands of water plants.

Enjoy waterfowl hunting but use care and be safe. Bringing home a few ducks for the pot is not worth a missing limb or your life.

If you have comments or news for Jim Foster please e-mail him at; jim@jimfosteroutdoors.com.