BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

I was recently thinking about this thread, and just sitting there calmly musing on the possibilities of beautiful Gulf coast sunsets, warm weather, life on the beach, etc. etc. etc. Until a friend at Kennedy Space Center sent me this image:


It seems that wildlife activity is picking up around KSC. It is normal for gators to be on the move this time of year, looking for a nice watering hole to settle in to. However, walking into your shop in the morning and finding this guy looking back at you is NOT what I would call normal! It seems that someone forgot to close all the doors to the high voltage shop the evening before, and "Bubba" wandered in during the night. The guy that found him was only a few feet away when he realized what was on the floor (the lights were off except in the office area). Yikes!

I guess I will never complain about the rats in the streets in D.C. again!

-dave

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

I think that alligator is battery powered. Look at its eyes!

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

here at work i see at least 4 aligators a day. at one time the aligators in florida outnumbered people.

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

The industrial sized insects are enough to make me want to stay out of Florida (at least to visit but not likely to live there).

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

hmmm... what a comforting sight. I am moving down to Florida next year for college.
And I thought bear and moose were bad up here in Connecticut/New Hampshire...

I remember the first time I ever saw an alligator in the wild, I was in Everglades National Park (I must have been about 10 or 11 years old). They scared the --- out of me, especially because my stepmom (who is an adventurous person), decided it would be fun to try to touch one. She got about four feet away from this 14 foot long alligator when I started screaming because I was afraid that it would attack her. I also remember vowing that I would never move to Florida because of the alligators. Isn't it funny how your perspective changes over time?

I am sure I will have lots of fun with the alligators living in Osceola Lake on the University of Miami campus next year. :p

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

They're not that big...

*pulls out 5 foot diameter fly swatter and smacks the giant insect sitting in chair next to him*

I'll be back, I've gotta clean up this mess...

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

Oh, Jaine. xD

Alligators are nothing. In India, they have ELEPHANTS. :/

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

Oh, come on..that's not even that big. I've petted bigger.

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

i see them all the time. (that would be the road...)

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

it looks like it poo'ed on the floor :D someone i know keeps a gecko in his pocket...kinda weird...im surprised it hasn't run away....

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

At least hitting an Alligator with your car doesn't come with a high probability of getting killed your self.

When a car hits a Moose at 60 miles an hour, the car, moose and human all loose.

Besides that, a marauding moose in town stays in town till it decides to leave. There just is no shooing them away. It happened not to long ago In Hanover. A moose wandered into town. The police kept people away from it and waited till it wandered back out. There was no use in trying to tranquilize it, since you then need a flat bed and fork lift to move it! Putting it down would be problematic, since the police didn't have a rifle large enough to ensure a clean kill and any rifle big enough to kill a moose is to dangerous to use in a town.

Basically, Moose have free run of New England. And I think they know it.

-Andy A.

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

Being next to a body of water in Florida you'll find lots of "visitors"! :D

My grandfather's house borders two canals in Cape Coral and I've seen so many different things crawling or scurrying around there it was unbelievable. The small lizards aren't bad and are fun to play with but watch out for the palmettos and other water bugs. I'd rather deal with the deer in my backyard every morning. I've never seen any alligators in the canals there although I have seen them on the sides of the road like in Nahalita's pic.

And be careful when walking through the grass barefoot. ;)

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

All I ever needed to learn about the North East/Alaska I learned from Northern Exposure.

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

Dave, now I just want to know what pictures your friends on Mars have sent back of critters... :eek:

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

2 little alligators sitting by the road
1 named Curley
1 named Moe
- Where is Larry? -
Curley asks
-Skinny dipping -
Moe just laughs

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

Yeah, I remember visiting Florida when I was a little kid (visiting my grandparents), and I was always spending hours and hours trying to catch the lizards that like to lay out in the sun. I was never able to catch one (I was only 7)! I also remember seeing all sorts of cool birds, with really beautiful and unique plumage. One of the great things about moving to Florida is that I will have a chance to become familiar with an ecosystem entirely different from my own (I am a nature nerd, and my other interest has always been environmental science). Although those alligators still scare me!

Actually, the other night I was watching Animal Planet, and I was watching that show with Steve Irwin in it (Alligator Hunters Diaries or something like that), and I found it so interesting. In that particular episode, one of Steve's favorite alligators died, and even though it was really sad, I couldn't help but chuckle when Steve Irwin sat there crying and said, "I loved her [the alligator] like I love my wife." :rolleyes:

Now, can anyone tell me if there are really big spiders in Florida? It's so embarrassing, but I literally scream every time I see one...

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

yeah...they're called banana spiders; they aren't really dangerous, though they seem to have an affinity for weaving webs right at head level on walking trails... i've never heard of anyone ever even bein' bit by one, but i don't think having a spider the size of your hand crawling around your head is a pleasant sensation...luckily, they seem to stick to wooded areas. in miami, you only have to look out for palmetto bugs* and fire ants.<edit> yeah, and love bugs; nothing like drivin' down I-75 during love bug season. just hope you don't run out of windsheild wiper fluid... and if you venture into an undeveloped (now there's a rarity!!) coastal area during dawn/dusk, you might encounter a fun little critter called a "no-see-em"**; just don't leave your car windows open in the presence of no-see-ems, otherwise you'll have to do the something we call the everglades run: AC on full, windows down, at >50 MPH. and how could i forget about the mosquitos? but then, those are everywhere, aren't they? man i left out a bunch of fun little insects, didn't i?</edit>

*we only call them "palmetto bugs" around tourists. around other floridians, we just call them (the bugs) "really, really big cockroaches".
**some of the bigger ones outta be called "see-em-just-fine"

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

Dont forget.."Love Bugs"...

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

actually the mosquitos in india are the size of elephants also. man do they love my blood...

also. as for the spiders... i mean they have daddy long legs but those are harmless...i remember holding them in my hand in preschool (which wasn't far from UM actually). they do have these tiny ones the size of my thumb nail. they're annoying... i seem to find them everywhere in my old house. but they don't bother you.

also... fyi, that picture that i took was actually in a place called "shark valley" (go figure!). It's not a normal road, but my brother and i took a tram through the trail and tried to keep count of alligators. i think we lost track after around 40... it's the coolest place ever. My dad even stood right next to them!


see? it ain't that bad.
atleast these are picture of live alligators. 5 years ago, i had the unfortunate luck of seeing 2 dead alligators in one of our canals. heads cut off, legs cut off, tails cut off. This is what greedy people do in florida and i think it's horrible.

alligators and spiders are great down here but man, have you seen the snakes? my dad seems to love going up to them when they're around our house.

later note: banana spiders are the coolest looking things EVER. if you go on a nature trail you're bound to run into one (and in my case it was physically... numerous times...)

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

Oh dear you just had to say the snake word and things were going so well too.

I think the banana spiders are orb spiders. Maybe Fruity Pebbles could find a gorgeous pic for us - they are some of the best weavers ever. If you see one then you know the environ. is healthy.

Here in Austin we have wolf spiders. Those are cool. They are big and furry and live in holes and cracks in houses. They eat mosquitoes but not elephants.

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

BAM! Banana Spider!


Love bugs were "manufactured" to eat mosquitoes...didn't quite work.

And why do I know that?! :ahh:

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

thank you, happy, happy :D

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

Lets just say that as a person who hates spiders, this strikes fear into my heart:




Florida: Spiders and Gators and 'Canes... oh my!

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

You all seem to be missing the point.

I can handle the alligators in the canals. I can deal with the spiders on the trails. I am OK with the coral snakes in the palmettos. The mosquitoes in the woods are tolerable. I understand the issue associated with a moose and a fast-moving vehicle attempting to occupy the same volume at the same time. I even have no problem with elephants eating the moose that is eating the alligator. All of these things are sensible, logical, and reasonably expected in the appropriate natural setting.

But this alligator does not seem to understand the rules! HE DOES NOT BELONG INSIDE THE BUILDING!!!! :ahh: Somewhere along the line he seems to have skipped the "outside - good, inside - bad!" lesson. I just CAN NOT get used to the idea of being in my office and wandering down to the water cooler one morning, only to find "Bubba" sitting in the middle of the hallway waiting for me! That just isn't right!!! He is supposed to stay OUTSIDE where he belongs, not inside sipping on Perrier and having a nosh with the secretaries!

-dave

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

I've seen plenty inside where aren't so posted to be. I guess you get used to it after living in Florida for 8 years...

I've had them in a school class room. For example =]

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

maybe if you just gave him a nice bath with the Perrier and cleaned some of the algae off of him, revealing his inner gator, you, too, could find peace and be one with 'Bubba' by the cooler.

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

I am just sitting here repeating to myself:

Gators don't belong indoors... Gators don't belong indoors... Gators don't belong indoors...

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

hmm critters here in the sunny florida...

love bugs always fun... spiders... okay not so much fun... alligators.. i don't see them much by me... too many fire ants at times.. mosquitos..they just love me... all the various snakes... turtles.. the crazy ducks... the frogs..toads (man those can get huge esp at South Fork)... more and more bugs/insects... land crabs chasing you... goats running through your school.. too many lizards to count...wild pigs.... cows in the street.... always fun too...

ya sunny florida is a fun place to be you just know you wanna visit :)

the critters sometime get into the school/house...but all well... in the end it's all good :)

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

And Bubba says:

There's no place like home, there's no place like home......

It'll be ok Dave, that's what tomorrow is for. ;)

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

Surround the building with an invisible fence and then find some sucker.....errr, I mean.........volunteer, to put the collar on him! ;)

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

(on the other hand, greased pigs DO belong in school, running down the main hallway right at lunch time) (it's a long story...)

-dave

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

At least it aint South America where there are things like Bird eating spiders (the size of plates *shudders*) Bullet Ants (think bigger meaner Fire Ants) Piranhas and Anacondas.

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

. . . . and some student on Team 116 is beginning to sprout the seedling of an idea for the Ultimate Practical Joke!

Take video folks, we all want to see it!

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

And my sister lives in the same town as 116... Anyone need a nice fresh supply of Florida Gator? I'll even transport it there myself on my next trip there... :rolleyes:

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

Oh, don't you doubt, I've got gator. (oh yes, she is a living, breathing, gator)

Next to cats, gators are my favorite animal... er... let me clarify that I don't really put cats next to gators, I repeat, I do not provide alligators with kitty-sized Happy Meals. I just like alligators a lot.

Heidi

Re: BIG. CRITTERS. IN. FLORIDA!!!! (and you think YOU have pest problems!)
 

Honestly living down at UM you will just deal with the bugs, palmetto and the likes. Gators are alright as long as they arent hungy.

But dave is right, they dont belong indoors, even if you have it in some sort of habitat or whatever.