About Me

In writing the "About Me" portion of this blog I thought about the purpose of the blog - namely, preventing the growth of Socialism & stopping the Death Of Democracy in the American Republic & returning her to the "liberty to abundance" stage of our history. One word descriptions of people's philosophies or purposes are quite often inadequate. I feel that I am "liberal" meaning that I am broad minded, independent, generous, hospitable, & magnanimous. Under these terms "liberal" is a perfectly good word that has been corrupted over the years to mean the person is a left-winger or as Mark Levin more accurately wrote in his book "Liberty & Tyranny" a "statist" - someone looking for government or state control of society. I am certainly not that & have dedicated the blog to fighting this. I believe that I find what I am when I consider whether or not I am a "conservative" & specifically when I ask what is it that I am trying to conserve? It is the libertarian principles that America was founded upon & originally followed. That is the Return To Excellence that this blog is named for & is all about.

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Tragic Ending To An Alligator Attack

In May 2017 I presented two posts of attacks by 1) an alligator on a young girl who knew how to fend the beast off, & 2) a sea lion on a young girl who was saved by an heroic individual who dove into the water to help.  Both accounts resulted in a scare but a happy ending – see reference posts below.
 
This post presents the tragic ending of a woman's life in August in a residential community in the Sea Pines section of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.  The woman was walking her small dog very close to a pond.  The alligator was lying close to shore & grabbed the dog's leash & wound up pulling both the dog & woman into the pond killing the woman & leaving the dog unhurt.
 
For those who live or vacation in the southeast you know that alligators are large carnivorous animals & should be respected as such – not treated as an amusement to be trifled with.  Alligator attacks are very rare & the reptiles are usually afraid of people so in the above tragedy the attraction was most likely the dog seen as an easy target & meal.
 
A few simple safety rules:
 
1.  Do not feed alligators or ducks, turtles, fish, or any other animal inhabiting water where alligators are known inhabitants.  This food source attracts alligators, trains them to associate humans with food, & makes them more likely to approach you.
 
2.  Almost any body of water in the southeast is an alligator-friendly habitat so be mindful of your environment.  I have seen people walking dogs near ponds totally focused on their cell phones or video games – not good with alligators around.
 
3.  If you encounter an alligator, walk backwards & back away from it.  A safe distance is about 60 feet.  If an alligator hisses or lunges @ you, you are too close which I have been on occasion.
 
4.  Keep pets & children away from alligators – large alligators will recognize them as food sources & act on their natural hunting instinct.  Do not allow pets or children to swim or play @ the edge of waters inhabited by alligators.  To an alligator, any splash potentially means a food source is in the water.
 
Reference posts: 
 
 
 

4 comments:

  1. I remember reading about this, very sad.

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  2. Thanks for the great safety reminder!

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  3. Most places a gun is not allowed, but carry a ball-peen hammer, and smack the middle of its head where a .22 will kill them in the right spot.

    Watch the swamp people, a kill is usually with one shot.

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  4. Not to worry - you will never see me near an alligator!

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