People drive through the South and don’t see gators crossing the road so they don’t know what is lurking just out of sight. There are plenty of the big guys around.
I came around a bend in a canel while bass fishing and saw the biggest gator I had ever seen down here (south Louisiana). My bass boat is 20' and this sucker on the bank was maybe 2 to 3 feet shorter than the boat. Awesome sight and didn't have a camera.