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2 More Fatal Fla. Gator Attacks Reported; Pitfall of protecting them?
Topic Started: May 14 2006, 09:25 PM (515 Views)
TexasShadow
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Jane
Quote:
 
I think it may be man who is the only species who doesn't "understand the rules."


oh, I quite agree with this, too. I've seen some pretty dumb tourists in yellowstone over the years, and even here in TX, people get stomped by a supposedly tame deer now and then. they get them coming up into the yard and using the birdbath and eating a little corn and then try to pet them.

growing up here in rattlesnake country, we were taught from toddlerhood to keep our eyes on the ground where we are walking and to be very careful sticking our hands in bushes or dark places outside. also to check places for black widow spiders.

my dad was out working one day (border patrol) on foot and sat down to check out the country with his binnoculars. he sat there for quite awhile, and when he started to get up, he glanced around and there was a rattlesnake curled up in the shade of his body. :) said he didn't know he could jump 10 feet from a sitting postition. :floorrollin:
Posted Image "A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking."
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abradf2519
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I got a serious bat problem. I reciently bought my FIL's house and am currently adding on to it to make more room for my family. The house is very old, parts of it were build in the early 1800's. As a result, it has more nooks and crannies than an english muffin. At dusk, it looks like a haunted house, with hundreds of bats flying in and out.

I have a friend who is an exterminator. I asked him about getting rid of the bats, and he told me he could not kill them, or harm them because they are "protected". So what am I supposed to do? If a rabid one bites one of us, we could die. So far, they haven't been too much of a problem, but for the safety of my family, I would love to get rid of them. I am resigned to the fact that I have to get rid of them myself.
Alan
Milan, New York, USA
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passinthru
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John - Gainesville, FL
If you can find where they leave, plug up the holes after dusk when they are gone; the real danger, I would think, is the bat guano that is building up somewhere in the house.
Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, more money...
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abradf2519
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passinthru
May 17 2006, 11:16 AM
If you can find where they leave, plug up the holes after dusk when they are gone; the real danger, I would think, is the bat guano that is building up somewhere in the house.

My FIL has "been there, done that". They always seem to find another crack. They are very small, about 2 in long with wings folded.

You are right about the guano. My son worked for my friend the exterminator and has experience dealing with the the guano, so I am not worried about that right now (maybe I should be...the cieling in the attic is bulging!). I was going to take care of the guano when the addition is complete, and we can empty out the attic.
Alan
Milan, New York, USA
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roscoe
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There is a block company that mined a lot of a mountain but left aportion viewed from a road untouched. Then he applied for a permit to remove the other half exposing the mining operations and destroying a nice view.

Someone found a nest or two of pygmy rattlesnakes . ( Protected species ) End of mining operations.

Thanks snakes. :)
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tomdrobin
Member
They are protected because they eat a lot of insects. I used to work with a guy that had plans for bat houses, fairly simple to make. The plans can probably be found by searching the internet. Make them some houses to hang out in (literally) during the day, and they may leave your house alone.
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cmoehle
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Chris - San Antonio TX
Things are getting crazy...

No end to gator attacks in Florida: Reptile eats family dog, woman cited for shooting another in self-defense

Doctor shot gull that left unsavoury salad dressing

I’m Sure He’s Harmless
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Wellington, FL
A man was standing in the middle of the road holding a butcher’s knife in one hand and a dead armadillo in the other in the 12800 block of Peconic Court. He was ordered to drop the knife and the animal and he did. After speaking with him, he said he was not on his medication. When asked if he wanted to hurt himself or others, he said no. He had just been released from the hospital.

(That was not me!)

Politics is the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for individuals that is consistent with the maintenance of social order.
--Barry Goldwater
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bikemanb
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Liberal Conservative
abrad,

Now I know what your problem is, you have bats in your belfry. ;)


Tom had a good point, some alternate "hang-outs" and some strong temporary lighting in the infested place might do the trick.
Bill, Rita and Chloe the Terror Cat

For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right but found to be otherwise.

Benjamin Franklin
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Tom
Member
I would think you could get help from local or state. As this is a health problem.
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tomdrobin
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cmoehle
May 18 2006, 11:18 AM

I think the Doc got a bum rap. Too many do gooders and animal rights activists make it almost impossible to dispatch nuisances like this.
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passinthru
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John - Gainesville, FL
My wife got hit in the head one time a Jacksonville landing just outside the restuarant where we had eaten. We were getting back on our boat when the gull dropped a load. I almost seemed as if the bird did it on purpose. ;)
Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, more money...
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tomdrobin
Member
I vacationed one time at a private resort on a small lake. I was surprised that the owner had strings strung up low to the ground on sticks over most of the beach. I asked, why. He replied it was to discourage the geese from pooping all over the beach. They had become overpopulated and public sentiment had prohibited culling the flock to a size that didn't represent a nusiance. I got swimmers itch from swimming there. There was a day when shooting a few of the geese would have taken care of the problem. But, now we've got all these grocery store meat fruitcakes that can't connect with the idea that we kill things to eat and for our convenience as long as they aren't human, complaining that we shouldn't cull (kill)the animals.
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passinthru
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John - Gainesville, FL
There was an article in our local paper that put alligator attacks resulting in death in perspective. This is based on the decade 1991-2000
Alligators kill 0.3 people per year in the US
Sharks kill 0.4 people per year
Cougars kill 0.6 people per year
Rattlesnakes kill 15 people per year
Dogs kill 18 people per year
Deer kill 130 people per year
Based on these figures, our interest in alligators is sorely misplaced.
Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, more money...
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bikemanb
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Liberal Conservative
Actually fried gator tail is good eating. I figure we eat a lot more of them than the other way around. ;)

Bill, Rita and Chloe the Terror Cat

For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right but found to be otherwise.

Benjamin Franklin
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cmoehle
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Chris - San Antonio TX
Well, John, you know, alligators are evil, and Bambi's cute.
Politics is the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for individuals that is consistent with the maintenance of social order.
--Barry Goldwater
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