When it starts getting hot here in central Florida I head for the nearest spring-fed river, take a dip unto the 72*f spring pool under some shade. After 15 minutes I'm back out of the water, in my canoe, paddle to the next spring pool, dive in again and repeat the process, unless I see baby gators, then I bypass that one and move on to the next. Don't want to upset their mum, ya' know.
@Inquisitor53 Sounds amazing, I neerly stood on a gator it was bigger than me I got such a fright I ran faster than ever but backwards up the shore where I took a photo of it. It just looked at me I think it might have been used to people as it was in quite a busy part of the everglades, I think they might even have a name for it.
@ragnail Yeah, you probably came upon a mother guarding her nest or hatchlings. As long as you departed with all due haste I'm sure she chase you far, she's more interested in guarding than eating. There's a 17 ft. bull gator w/ a harem of about 50 females on a steep creek I paddle & the only time he got nasty with me was when I accidently awoke him from a nap in the middle of mating season. The creek was near flood stage so I had plenty of current behind me. The smart bastard took the ...
@Inquisitor53 ... short-cut and met me on an intercept course where the short-cut ended in the creek. He stopped about 8 ft. from me, thankfully (176 pound man in a 70 pound canoe is no match for a half-ton+, 17 ft. bull gator), and watched me float on by. I had my paddle ready to do my best to cleave his skull but as hormone-filled as he was I'm sure it would've just pissed him off. I'm glad he didn't want to waste the energy on dealing with me when he had to satisfy his females that night.
@Inquisitor53 They are fascinating creatures I loved watching them fro a safe vantage point, they looked at times like huge frogs hanging in the water and the babys looked like they were made of plastic.Do they have much in the way of intelegence, are they as clever as a mouse, can they survive cold.
@ragnail Well, the cerebrum of a 10 footer is about the size of a poker chip but they do learn quick, especially for a reptile. Their instincts are highly developed. For instance: the big bull gator I mentioned earlier has a territorial claim of a good 4 miles of that steep and rocky creek, yet his favorite hang out is a flint ledge. The upstream side of it provides him of a great view of anothing coming downstream. If he considers it a threat, say another bull, he has the advantage. If it's ...
@Inquisitor53 ... a possible meal (either dead or living) he's in a position to grab it with ease. they downstream side of the ledge has scattered patches of reeds just thick enough to break up his outline yet thin enough to for him to see any animal coming down the game trail less than 25 yards away. When prey downs the trail to cross the creek or to drink he can see it. Hecan then slide of the upstream side of the ledge (and as big as he is he's absolutely silent & does it without creating...
@Inquisitor53 ... a ripple), swims underwater, letting the sensors on his snout direct him to the smallest of animals causing the slightest lapping of water and since the water there is quite dark from the tannins in the water he can either quickly but quietly snatch them off the bank or in the case of the roughly 400-500 pound hog I witnessed him grab, lunge up to half his body length out of the water, grab it by the head in a swinging motion, let his monentum take it off the bank with jaw...
@Inquisitor53 ...pressure of over 1,500 psi (ensuring the prey don't escape) and into the deep pool and immediately goes into his death spin, preventing escape, causing disorientation, drowning and/or snapping the neck. Either way, the prey never breaks the surface of the water again. Since his jaws & teeth are made for seizing instead of chew if the prey is small enough it will be swallowed whole, if not he'll then stash it in his den under the bank opposite the ledge and await for his prey ...
@Inquisitor53 ... to 'age' enough for the joints to twist apart so he can swallow it in chunks. That same den is where he goes when the water temps get too cold. There's an air pocket they create so they can hole up in it for weeks. In my opinion, they're the most intelligent of all reptiles, definitely the most evolved, a masterpiece of reptilian evolution.
@Inquisitor53 Correction: the sentence should be " ...I'm sure she didn't chase you far,...". I don't want people getting the wrong ideas about alligator behaviour!
@skipstalforce Most Scots find the 70s F realy warm and the eighties f to hot and thats about as warm as it gets here, tempiratures in exess of 100 f are a real novelty for us, which is why so many Britts visit spain. Dont go to Spain in winter as its miserable,late spring / early autum and summers ok on the coast.Cheerz
@ragnail well then,if that's true, I most Definitely have Scottish blood and I prefer some clouds to a sunny sky any day. Rain? bring it on-ahhhhhhhhhhhhh
I guess ya left the wetsuit back home and went back to your "original" attire.hehe The Thermometer looks more like 98 degrees and I thought that kinda heat would actually MELT a Scotsman! Wherz the beerz? ya cannae have a ragnail video with oot beerz x
@cocatwoman7 Your dead right April the thermometer by the house reads 98 and the one by the pool reads 39 which = 103 but third world never done a song called 98 or 103 degrees in the shade, it was the nearest I could get. Ime back in Scotland now 60s or 70s on a good day, plenty of rain and not a lot of sun.
When it starts getting hot here in central Florida I head for the nearest spring-fed river, take a dip unto the 72*f spring pool under some shade. After 15 minutes I'm back out of the water, in my canoe, paddle to the next spring pool, dive in again and repeat the process, unless I see baby gators, then I bypass that one and move on to the next. Don't want to upset their mum, ya' know.
Inquisitor53 6 months ago
@Inquisitor53 Sounds amazing, I neerly stood on a gator it was bigger than me I got such a fright I ran faster than ever but backwards up the shore where I took a photo of it. It just looked at me I think it might have been used to people as it was in quite a busy part of the everglades, I think they might even have a name for it.
ragnail 6 months ago
@ragnail Yeah, you probably came upon a mother guarding her nest or hatchlings. As long as you departed with all due haste I'm sure she chase you far, she's more interested in guarding than eating. There's a 17 ft. bull gator w/ a harem of about 50 females on a steep creek I paddle & the only time he got nasty with me was when I accidently awoke him from a nap in the middle of mating season. The creek was near flood stage so I had plenty of current behind me. The smart bastard took the ...
Inquisitor53 6 months ago
@Inquisitor53 ... short-cut and met me on an intercept course where the short-cut ended in the creek. He stopped about 8 ft. from me, thankfully (176 pound man in a 70 pound canoe is no match for a half-ton+, 17 ft. bull gator), and watched me float on by. I had my paddle ready to do my best to cleave his skull but as hormone-filled as he was I'm sure it would've just pissed him off. I'm glad he didn't want to waste the energy on dealing with me when he had to satisfy his females that night.
Inquisitor53 6 months ago
@Inquisitor53 They are fascinating creatures I loved watching them fro a safe vantage point, they looked at times like huge frogs hanging in the water and the babys looked like they were made of plastic.Do they have much in the way of intelegence, are they as clever as a mouse, can they survive cold.
ragnail 6 months ago
@ragnail Well, the cerebrum of a 10 footer is about the size of a poker chip but they do learn quick, especially for a reptile. Their instincts are highly developed. For instance: the big bull gator I mentioned earlier has a territorial claim of a good 4 miles of that steep and rocky creek, yet his favorite hang out is a flint ledge. The upstream side of it provides him of a great view of anothing coming downstream. If he considers it a threat, say another bull, he has the advantage. If it's ...
Inquisitor53 6 months ago
@Inquisitor53 ... a possible meal (either dead or living) he's in a position to grab it with ease. they downstream side of the ledge has scattered patches of reeds just thick enough to break up his outline yet thin enough to for him to see any animal coming down the game trail less than 25 yards away. When prey downs the trail to cross the creek or to drink he can see it. Hecan then slide of the upstream side of the ledge (and as big as he is he's absolutely silent & does it without creating...
Inquisitor53 6 months ago
@Inquisitor53 ... a ripple), swims underwater, letting the sensors on his snout direct him to the smallest of animals causing the slightest lapping of water and since the water there is quite dark from the tannins in the water he can either quickly but quietly snatch them off the bank or in the case of the roughly 400-500 pound hog I witnessed him grab, lunge up to half his body length out of the water, grab it by the head in a swinging motion, let his monentum take it off the bank with jaw...
Inquisitor53 6 months ago
@Inquisitor53 ...pressure of over 1,500 psi (ensuring the prey don't escape) and into the deep pool and immediately goes into his death spin, preventing escape, causing disorientation, drowning and/or snapping the neck. Either way, the prey never breaks the surface of the water again. Since his jaws & teeth are made for seizing instead of chew if the prey is small enough it will be swallowed whole, if not he'll then stash it in his den under the bank opposite the ledge and await for his prey ...
Inquisitor53 6 months ago
@Inquisitor53 ... to 'age' enough for the joints to twist apart so he can swallow it in chunks. That same den is where he goes when the water temps get too cold. There's an air pocket they create so they can hole up in it for weeks. In my opinion, they're the most intelligent of all reptiles, definitely the most evolved, a masterpiece of reptilian evolution.
Inquisitor53 6 months ago
@Inquisitor53 Correction: the sentence should be " ...I'm sure she didn't chase you far,...". I don't want people getting the wrong ideas about alligator behaviour!
Inquisitor53 6 months ago
@Inquisitor53 No it didnt chase me at all it just looked at me. I just got a bit of a fright . others I saw got out of my way and jumped in the water
ragnail 6 months ago
@ragnail do ya still have the pic of the gator? it problably knew better than to mess with a Scotsman! lol
cocatwoman7 6 months ago
@cocatwoman7 Yes I still have the pic Ile try and dig it out.
ragnail 6 months ago
@ragnail maybe the gator was not in the mood for Scottish food that day
cocatwoman7 6 months ago
always wanted to go to spain, not in the summer! Cheers, ah but its only 105 here !
skipstalforce 6 months ago
@skipstalforce Most Scots find the 70s F realy warm and the eighties f to hot and thats about as warm as it gets here, tempiratures in exess of 100 f are a real novelty for us, which is why so many Britts visit spain. Dont go to Spain in winter as its miserable,late spring / early autum and summers ok on the coast.Cheerz
ragnail 6 months ago
@ragnail well then,if that's true, I most Definitely have Scottish blood and I prefer some clouds to a sunny sky any day. Rain? bring it on-ahhhhhhhhhhhhh
cocatwoman7 6 months ago
I guess ya left the wetsuit back home and went back to your "original" attire.hehe The Thermometer looks more like 98 degrees and I thought that kinda heat would actually MELT a Scotsman! Wherz the beerz? ya cannae have a ragnail video with oot beerz x
cocatwoman7 6 months ago
@cocatwoman7 Your dead right April the thermometer by the house reads 98 and the one by the pool reads 39 which = 103 but third world never done a song called 98 or 103 degrees in the shade, it was the nearest I could get. Ime back in Scotland now 60s or 70s on a good day, plenty of rain and not a lot of sun.
ragnail 6 months ago
Looks mighty hot Raggerz...Suggest some ice cold beers to cool down a bit...lol...
vegasdaddy17 6 months ago
@vegasdaddy17 Yep thats what I did Billy Cheerz
ragnail 6 months ago
Spain's winter is probably warmer than Scotland's summer.
dunkmuir 6 months ago
@dunkmuir Good chance of it Dunk Cheerz
ragnail 6 months ago