Gator Land - What We Can't Tell the Tourists

My son and I had some time yesterday to go boating. We loaded up our Yorkie, food, sunscreen, and guns; gassed up the boat (18' footer), and headed to "Big Toho" (Lake Tohopekaliga). Toho is a lake famous for bass fishing and (gasp) Alligators, and has locks which lead south all the way to Lake Okeechobee and eventually the ocean. A handful of people have been eaten/attacked in Florida within the last two weeks, not around Lake Toho, though. If you know where Kissimmee, Florida is you know exactly where the lake is.

http://www.orlandofishingguide.com/gallery.htm

http://www.orlandobassguide.com/lake_toho.html

Our Yorkie (full size, not mini), Mr. Bailey, has a nice bright orange life jacket and a strong leash hook-up to the boat so he can't go overboard. Down here, in Gator country, we call dogs; "candy on a rope". You must be extremely cautious when mixing pets with the Florida wild. BTW, don't worry, Mr. Bailey is fine. He's an excellent swimmer, so the life jacket is for protection and visibility more than swimming; if a gator ever grabbed him, the jacket might provide some protection.

We weren't worried about Bailey, though; we were worried about ourselves! The lake's water level was high, due to recent rains, but sand bars had been altered dramatically. We bottomed out in areas that should have been channel areas. An 18" ski boat is not a bass boat! No matter how careful I was we kept getting hung up. And, it's breeding time for the GATORS!

Tourists need to be aware that gators get very aggressive at this time of the year. We made sure we stayed clear of them and I never purposely went into shallow water when gators were near, although they're in the water always! As we puttered down the canals gators were everywhere on the banks. 14 footers, 5 footers, 16 footers! Gators... Gators... everywhere. They immediately enter the water and come after you and your boat; very, very aggressive.

So ... to the Tourists: only swim in groups, in designated areas, in clear water, daylight hours (this doesn't matter in mating season), and with people designated as "watchers". Never, ever walk dogs, children or yourself around holding ponds, or close to lake shores. Be aware, always!