Alligators?

[Xithras]

I was just having an email exchange with a supposed Louisiana native when he said, "Now that NOLA's flooded, it's just a matter of time until the gators wander in and start picking people off as they wade through the floodwater".

I know there are alligators in Louisiana, but does anyone know if their range extends into the New Orleans area? Is this a real possibility, or was this guy screwing with me? :shrug:

[lvx35]

1. It appears to be correct, according to American Prospect

http://www.juiceenewsdaily.com/0605/news/trouble.html?1125455078562

"The American Prospect carried "Thinking Big About Hurricanes" on May 23, 2005. That article described the likely aftermath of a major storm surge. "Soon the geographical "bowl" of the Crescent City would fill up with the waters of the lake, leaving those unable to evacuate with little option but to cluster on rooftops -- terrain they would have to share with hungry rats, fire ants, nutria, snakes, and perhaps alligators. The water itself would become a festering stew of sewage, gasoline, refinery chemicals, and debris."

[aquart]

4. Alligators can live in gasoline?

Toxic water will kill any animal.

[lvx35]

6. depends on how much.

There's so much water in NO right now that I don't know how polluted it is in parts per million. If its not that bad, I assume a gator can live in it like a human can lie in dirty air for awhile.

[expatriate]

2. Alligators can and do live around New Orleans

There are swamps and marshes all around New Orleans, and that's gator environment. There are alligators out there.

It is possible that gators would come into the city now that the water is so high. However, I would say that the danger from contaminated water, tainted both by filth and chemicals, is far more likely to harm people than getting picked off by an alligator.

[Ediacara]

3. The water

may also help to keep the alligators out. Hopefully.

[newswolf56]

5. There was already a story on CNN about 'gators attacking...

an elderly couple trapped in a car; the 'gators had surrounded the car and were waiting for the water to get high enough so they could swim in through the windows to eat the couple. (CNN said a passer-by drove the 'gators off and rescued the couple.) Alligators are predators -- relics of the age of dinosaurs -- and can be expected to behave accordingly: they will go wherever they have access and food, and now that most of New Orleans is underwater, their presence is assured. There was an interview a couple of days ago -- also on CNN -- with a N.O. health official warning against not only 'gator attacks but attacks by cottonmouths (aka water moccasins: the most nasty-tempered of the American vipers), also swamp rattlers. Copperheads will be a problem in the higher elevations, too. So -- no -- unfortunately this wasn't a put-on.

[aquart]

7. Before the water went toxic?

[newswolf56]

8. Story's being re-run on CNN right now.

[expatriate]

9. A lot of the watercourses in Louisiana are quite polluted.

Alligators seem to do okay in them. Of course, they couldn't live in pure gasoline, but they seem to be able to tolerate a high degree of contamination. Louisiana is extremely polluted.

[ngGale]

10. OMG - This is a nightmare....

the gator's are too dumb to know the water is contaminated. The snakes will swim, good grief. These creature's will be around for awhile before they die. They are survivors and probably are resistant to some contaminates. :cry:

[B Calm]

11. I think they are more worried about the snakes..

The biggest snake of all is on vacation..

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. Fortunately gators don't eat that often

and there's probably enough dead stuff (animal and human) to satisfy their appetites for a while. Gators are lazy and opportunistic. They will go after the easy stuff first and then bask until they get hungry again. However, they will attack if they fell threatened so it is still a dangerous situation.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

13. Go ya one better...

...Fox just said something about sharks, yeah that's right, sharks, on Canal street. Top that. Gotta love MSM. Shaaaark Attaaaack!!!
Run for your lives!!!!!

[fujiyama]

14. Why does it not surprise me

that Fox would find any opportunity they can to mention sharks in some way or the other? Of course I also heard that MSNBC actually devoted some time to Natalie Hollaway - in the midst of this fuckin mess!

[Xithras]

15. Heh, shark vs. gator. Sounds like a cheap scifi flick.

I write fiction as a hobby...and according to publishers, it's not even good fiction. Despite that, if someone had proposed the current situation in NOLA to me as a story idea, I'd have dismissed it as "too unbelievable". If we have both alligators and sharks in the city, we truly have entered the twilight zone.

[Pirate Smile]

16. I heard somewhere that a shark was spotted at an intersection.