A year after we had moved to Florida from Southern California there was in the local news an incident where a man from Michigan was golfing in The Villages and his ball rolled into a water feature. He walked to the water’s edge and reached into the water to retrieve his golf ball. A gator sprung out from under the water grabbed his arm rolled violently and ripped his arm from his shoulder socket.
The gator was shot and his arm retrieved and was reattached after many hours of surgery.
When you’re in the deep south ALL freshwater lakes, ponds, streams, etc...must be assumed to have gators in them. Why? Because they probably do.
I used to work at a refinery in Pascagoula Mississippi. We were warned about rounding corners too fast because of gators in the plant in the winter. They would come out of the swamps and get near the processing equipment to get warm.
Found one and learned my lesson.
[A gator sprung out from under the water grabbed his arm rolled violently and ripped his arm from his shoulder socket.]
You got it right. I moved here to Alabama back in ‘99, and while I haven’t actually seen one nose to nose, this state is nothing but an endless terrain of swamps, ponds, creeks, lakes, and rivers. Facebook pages owned by locals are constantly posting pics of gators spotted in the area. Like they say down here, if it’s enough water to fill a bathtub, it’s got a gator in it. They just don’t want to be bothered unless you get too close.
But did he get his ball back?
Credit where credit is due. ;-)