I was sitting out back yesterday morning, it was 72 degrees at 8:00am and the weather was beautiful.
I noticed that the people across the canal had their house up for sale and they were having some people over to look at the house.
As I sipped my coffee, I could almost follow what was going on over there as the owner showed where he replaced the roof after the last storm.
A young couple was listening intently, they had a small boy who was very interested with the canal.
I thought to myself “if they buy this house, they better put up a fence across the back to keep that kid out of the canal.”
The show was getting boring and I was about to go inside when I noticed some movement just at the water line behind the house.
It was a large Iguana, he was coming out of the water about 20 feet from the group of people. I thought to myself, that’s odd, Iguana’s don’t usually go that close to people.
The owner saw the Iguana and pointed to it to show the couple the wildlife that lives around the canal. The wife scooped up her child in a flash, they do kind of look like a gator, from the look on her face she didn’t quite believe it was harmless.
But the best was yet to come, to everyone’s surprise, about 10 seconds after the Iguana surfaced, a 7 foot + Gator (alligator for you folks up north), came running out of the water just behind the Iguana. He was hot on his heels and looking for a quick breakfast.
The wife let out a scream, “Bill, look at that!!!”, as she ran for the house with the boy under one arm. :willy_nilly:
The owner seeing that the sale was heading south, said “They are more afraid of you then you are of them”. I think the wife would have agued that point had she stuck around long enough. She didn't look back!!!
Well, with all the distraction, the Iguana got up a nearby palm tree and the Gator was left in the middle of the yard with people screaming at him and running around.
The owner picked up a rake and started towards the Gator to get him to turn and run for the water.
Normally this would have succeeded, but a new problem came into the picture, the owners dog had gotten out of the house in all the confusion and was running around the Gator, barking and raising hell.
The Gator, who was still short a good breakfast, decided to try for the dog. He swung his tail and caught the dog in the chest sending him flying back. Fortunately he caught the dog with the broad part of the tail. This sent the dog high ( 4 to 5 feet)in the air and over the Gators awaiting mouth. That’s two meals he missed. The dog landed on the ground shaken but not hurt, he had the air knocked out of him.
The Gator, not going to let this meal get away, charged the dog on the ground, but the owner who had run over to check the dog was now in between the gator and the dog. This kept the Gator off the dog until the dog caught it’s breath and ran for the house.
The gator decided to retreat for the water and hunt in another location.
This all happened in less then 10 seconds, for a moment I thought that I was going to see that gator eat the dog, it was real close, a matter of inches.
Needless to say the sale didn’t go through, I think I could hear the couple peeling out as they left, so much for living on the water in South Florida, I bet they go buy a condo.
FYI::thumbsup:
By the way, for 10 to 25 feet, a gator can move a lot faster then you can, so if you ever get around one, keep your distance.
Twice a year the gators move inland into the waterways to breed and stay warm, they usually hunt at night, so seeing one hunting during the day around here is unusual.During this time of year they are real aggressive, they are in a breeding season, they WILL attack.
They feed on small wild animals along with dogs (they love dog) and cats that get too close to the water. I didn’t think that a Gator would eat an Iguana, but this guy was sure it would taste good.
The canal we live on is 100 feet wide and it connects to both the Atlantic Ocean and the Everglades. Yes, we are surrounded by water
There’s more to Florida besides golf courses and beaches. I can see the ad now, "a Gator in everyone 's pool", so much for home sales.:D
Tim