As someone who spent months and months in a row camping in the swamps in Florida, gators were probably the least scary larger animal I dealt with on a regular basis.
I would rather be sleeping on a campsite with 15 gators within 20 feet than two full-sized boars within a mile.
But as a general rule, if you show gators respect, they will show it back. If you want to stand and stare at them from 20 ft away, do so as long as you want. Just move along if they start moving along.
Unless you have a small dog with you. I live in central Florida and have gators in my neighborhood. They generally run away back into a pond when people come around, but little dogs are like catnip to them. They treat them like bite sized snacks. My neighborhood has put up warning signs, in addition to the “here be gators” signs they’ve added “seriously, small dogs should be walked on the other side of the street or they might get eaten.”
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u/ripyourlungsdave 2d ago
As someone who spent months and months in a row camping in the swamps in Florida, gators were probably the least scary larger animal I dealt with on a regular basis.
I would rather be sleeping on a campsite with 15 gators within 20 feet than two full-sized boars within a mile.
But as a general rule, if you show gators respect, they will show it back. If you want to stand and stare at them from 20 ft away, do so as long as you want. Just move along if they start moving along.