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Florida Golfer Calmly Takes Shot While Alligator Approaches
UPI ^ | 7/2 | Ben Hooper

Posted on 07/02/2022 2:56:00 PM PDT by nickcarraway

An alligator was caught on camera approaching a group of golfers on a Florida course while a member of the party nonchalantly took his shot.

A video posted to Facebook by Melissa Walsh shows her husband, Michael West, lining up and taking his shot at the Heritage Landing Golf & Country Club in Punta Gorda while ignoring the alligator approaching him from the rear.

"I was lining up my approach shot from about 125 [yards] out. I knew he was coming up diagonally behind me," West told McClatchy News.

The rest of West's party laughed after he took the shot with the gator about 15 feet away.

"Hey man, we got a foursome. We're full. We're good," one of the golfers says in the video. "This guy decided he wants to join."

West said the alligator most likely was just curious while taking a walk.

"He was very likely headed to the bigger lake across the fairway," West said. "He was just going about his business. It was great. I get to have a dinosaur watch me play."


TOPICS: Local News; Pets/Animals; Sports
KEYWORDS: florida; gators; golf
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To: nickcarraway

Florida Man be tough. On land, we have alligaors, rattlesnakes and three other species of venemous snake; at the beach, we have sharks waiting in the water; and for stay at home urban types, we have blistering heat and sun and hurricanes and tornadoes. They are all part of the environment.


21 posted on 07/02/2022 3:26:00 PM PDT by Rockingham
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To: Paladin2
I thought the golfer pulled out a piece from his bag [they don’t normally carry out on the course?] and squeezed off a round for effect.

When I was a kid in Texas, I was fishing (running a trot line) with a friend of my father. He pulled up a snapping turtle on the line, calmly took a revolver from his tackle box and killed the turtle. Reflecting on that, I thought carrying the pistol was not a bad idea as there were also alligators in that river.

22 posted on 07/02/2022 3:27:08 PM PDT by DeFault User
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To: packagingguy
I've never heard of an alligator in Tennessee, but apparently they are protected.

Alligators in Tennessee

23 posted on 07/02/2022 3:30:12 PM PDT by DannyTN
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To: DeFault User

I don’t even like going swimming in water that has Jelly Fish.


24 posted on 07/02/2022 3:31:21 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: nickcarraway

I live in SW Florida and have taken several shots with gators nearby. We give them names. The only time they get aggressive is during mating season and when females have babies. Even then the almost exclusively attack other gators. We have one woh is always within 5 yards of the 11th green. She catches sun by the pond.


25 posted on 07/02/2022 3:31:27 PM PDT by Poser (Cogito ergo Spam - I think, therefore I ham)
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To: DannyTN

They like to hang out on the banks of smaller rivers just before they empty into the Mississippi. At least that’s where we see them most often.


26 posted on 07/02/2022 3:32:51 PM PDT by packagingguy
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To: Savage Beast

27 posted on 07/02/2022 3:34:23 PM PDT by ansel12 ( Kill a Commie for Mommy, proud NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon.)
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To: FormerFRLurker

Florida man just never disappoints.


28 posted on 07/02/2022 3:35:22 PM PDT by joma89 (Buy weapons and ammo, folks, and have the will to use them.)
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To: ansel12

Weekends are short. Gotta get those chores done!


29 posted on 07/02/2022 3:38:05 PM PDT by TigersEye (The Democrat Party is criminal, unAmerican and illegitimate )
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To: nickcarraway

Alligator barely missed a hole in one.

I know, I know.

Couldn’t resist. :-)


30 posted on 07/02/2022 3:38:40 PM PDT by pax_et_bonum (God is good, He loves us, and He is always with us.)
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To: Salamander

LOL!!! Amen...


31 posted on 07/02/2022 3:39:55 PM PDT by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. #FJB)
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To: Paladin2

LOL!!! yup


32 posted on 07/02/2022 3:40:36 PM PDT by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. #FJB)
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To: nickcarraway

Sounds like the final scene in Coneheads.


33 posted on 07/02/2022 3:48:47 PM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: nickcarraway

We have lots of gators on our golf courses here in SC. It is forbidden for humans to feed them. If they don’t associate humans with food, they’re not a threat. Mostly we ignore them and they ignore us. As said below, they get aggressive in mating season (Apr-Jun) and if you wander close to a nest. We had a guy get bit who was mowing near a lagoon. I would have taken that shot.


34 posted on 07/02/2022 4:08:02 PM PDT by DeplorablePaul ("..)
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To: Salamander

You know what is the best thing about the Appalachians? No dinosaurs.

The retirement communities around this part of the mountains are full of them.


35 posted on 07/02/2022 4:15:02 PM PDT by Rebelbase (Crush, smash and obliterate the Liberal New World Order)
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To: packagingguy

“Alligators are not migrating to East Tennessee, though a four-foot gator was captured in Madisonville in 2018. Officials believe it was someone’s pet. In addition, several Caiman crocodiles have also been spotted in East Tennessee. They look like small gators and are also likely pets that have been released.”

https://www.wbir.com/article/sports/outdoors/cougars-alligators-east-tennessee/51-57cff63d-75d3-4e12-b997-2f7e7453dae5#:~:text=Alligators%20are%20not%20migrating%20to,pets%20that%20have%20been%20released.


36 posted on 07/02/2022 4:17:27 PM PDT by Rebelbase (Crush, smash and obliterate the Liberal New World Order)
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To: TigersEye

His wife is very demanding.


37 posted on 07/02/2022 4:18:06 PM PDT by ansel12 ( Kill a Commie for Mommy, proud NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon.)
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To: Paladin2

Gators are capable of short bursts of speed of about 30 mph.

Good idea to give them their space.

One of our neighbors in Florida took her dog for a walk by a pond. A gator did a number on her leg. Dog was unhurt.


38 posted on 07/02/2022 4:18:18 PM PDT by Starboard
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To: Flick Lives

Focus!

No yips allowed.


39 posted on 07/02/2022 4:18:32 PM PDT by drSteve78 (Je suis Deplorable STILL)
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To: Rockingham

all part of the environment

Lovebugs in May, And in the winter, freaking snowbirds.


40 posted on 07/02/2022 4:20:50 PM PDT by drSteve78 (Je suis Deplorable STILL)
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