Kayaks and Gators

[2Salty]

delete

[2Salty]

[2Salty]

Duck Hunter Attacked By Alligator In Everglades
November 25, 2016
“I saw the alligator’s mouth and I tried to push the kayak between him and the alligator,” Gautier said. “We struggled a little bit to get composure, put him on the kayak and get out of the water.”
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2016/11/25/ma ... k-hunting/

[2Salty]

Watch kayaker get surprised by monster gator -- if you dare

Half a heartbeat later, an alligator that looked big enough to eat Burgos, kayak and all, emerged from the stained swamp water, bearing its flesh-puncturing teeth.

"I was in a 13-foot Hobie Outback, and that thing had 3 foot of head that was a foot and a half across," Burgos said.

http://www.nola.com/outdoors/index.ssf/ ... ed_by.html

[cotton]

I've been doing the kayak thing for a while. Fished alot in the dark on most of the area lakes. I can assure you that the gators in our local lakes where hunting is allowed are extremely unlikely to give you any problems. Other than chasing your topwater plugs and you occasionally surprising one they have no interest in you. In areas where hunting is not allowed(st marks) it certainly is more likely you will have a problem. Carr, Jackson, and micci are erie after dark. There are a whole lot of gators you don't see during the daytime. Leave your pets at home!!

[Dutch]

I don't worry about the gators in a yak but if you have a dog around larger gators you are ringing the dinner bell for them and they will eventually come. You have to get used to them and just be careful around them.

I had a gator problem 2 years ago at Rhoden Cove on Lake Jackson in the summer. It was longer than my 12ft kayak. And it's easy to tell when they are less than 10ft from you paralleling you. I saw him come out of some grass about 50yds away. When he came out he displayed from the tip of his nose to his tail as far out of the water as he could come perpendicular to the grass. It was impressive. He turned left and started coming right at me. Not fast but he was coming. I could see his tail going from side to side. I turned to face him and when he got about 15ft away stood my paddle up and slapped the water real hard and started yelling at him. His eyes got real big, he stopped, started to go down and then did a full display again. I had nowhere to go and it was on. This was when he started to parallel my yak and as he was along side of me about 10ft away I slapped the paddle again and he displayed again. He never hissed but he WAS NOT afraid of me. Turns out he just wanted by me but I didn't know it at the time. That's the only time I've ever been scared of a potential gator attack on my yak. I didn't know what was going to happen and he may have taken me but he would have had a limp and no nuts or something! No BS.

East river is another story....

[2Salty]

Woman Narrowly Escapes Alligator in Sinking Kayak

Boynton says when gator latched on, it began its "death roll" maneuver to tear apart the kayak.

"There's two very large alligators out here, and I can't kayak. I'm sinking," she told a 911 operator.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2 ... ing-kayak/

[2Salty]

Question:

What are the risks to canoeists and kayakers from alligators?

http://mygovhelp.info/FLFWC/_cs/site.as ... 6aid%3D100

[Redbelly]

2Salty are you trying to scare them or provoke them with your kayak?

[2Salty]

2Salty are you trying to scare them or provoke them with your kayak?

Photo I posted 3/2/2017 6:47 PM isn't my kayak. Prior posts in this thread made references to "jaws" and "teeth" on a kayak so I posted the photo.

When I encounter alligator(s) while yak angling I don't try to provoke or scare them.