Alligator snatches toddler at Disney World

Jesus. My grandsons are just over 2 @ 26 months. Thinking what happened to that little guy,,,,,,,Damn I cannot fathom what the parents are going through.
 
When I am golfing at Hilton Head or another southeast locale if I lose a ball it stays lost as I would rather take a penalty than poke some gator in a marshy area and get really penalized. It is amazing how many people (non locals) have no regard for gators and what they are capable of.
 
BobbyFord said:
Who lets their toddler wade in gator water territory at night?
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Stupid people.

I think part of the problem is that people assume nothing bad can happen when they are on vacation. Every year, when I'm in Hilton Head, I'll see people posing for pictures at the edge of a pond with an adult gator in the water just a few feet behind them. People do similar things with black bears here in the mountains. People seem to think that they can treat animals in the wild as if they are at the zoo.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
When I am golfing at Hilton Head or another southeast locale if I lose a ball it stays lost as I would rather take a penalty than poke some gator in a marshy area and get really penalized. It is amazing how many people (non locals) have no regard for gators and what they are capable of.
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Guess I should have read the thread before posting.
 
Probably doesn't help people be afraid of gators when a gator farm I went to down there let's you sit on the back of one and get your picture taken, of course that one had its mouth taped shut
 
kkfan91 said:
Probably doesn't help people be afraid of gators when a gator farm I went to down there let's you sit on the back of one and get your picture taken, of course that one had its mouth taped shut
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That gets back to my point with the zoo, some people really struggle to differentiate between a controlled environment with proper supervision and the wild.
 
utvol0427 said:
That gets back to my point with the zoo, some people really struggle to differentiate between a controlled environment with proper supervision and the wild.
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I mean Steve Irwin managed to get killed in the wild, so I don't like the chances of a housewife from the suburbs
 
Not to sound callus, but I hope they left a chicken or something to make up for stealing that poor gator's meal. Not it's fault the kid's parents are useless gits.
 
Professur said:
Not to sound callus, but I hope they left a chicken or something to make up for stealing that poor gator's meal. Not it's fault the kid's parents are useless gits.
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I hope they killed it on the spot.
 
Professur said:
No, the child's parents killed the child through neglect. The animal was just an animal. It doesn't know a child from a piglet. It no more deserves to die than that gorilla did.
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No for you, yes for me. We just disagree.

As for the parents they are tortured enough already. They are mentally ruined for life as well. A fate I wouldn't wish upon anyone.

I dont get the need to pount out their mistakes either. I am sorry and sad for them too, and feel compassion for them.
A compassion that obviously will never help them or give them their child back, but they still need all the love they can get. They will live with the unimaginable horror forever, Fate would have been kinder if they have died with their boy last night.

Kicking them in the teeth when they are as down as one can get, is an unimaginable evil imo.
WTF is wrong with people with their high and mighty condemnations for others that are more flawed. Their lives were more than destroyed last night, let them be.
 
I'm not kicking them when they're down ... I'm simply pointing out that killing the gator isn't going to bring the kid back. Or are you suggesting that killing it might give them some solace?

Frankly, you're making knee jerk emotional responses. You want to lash out and hurt someone, and the gator is your target. I feel for the parents. My daughter once wandered away from us in a mall and I was well ready to kill anyone who'd touched her. But in the end, when that security guard walked by holding her hand and I got the truth of it (she'd lost sight of us and thought we'd left the store so she went looking in the mall for us) I had to swallow that WE were at fault. She was 6. This kid was at the water, and was 2! Even without the gator, that kid could easily have drowned. Who would you lash out at then?

There's a reason why we insist that judges be detached when judging cases. Emotion has no place where lives are decided ... even animal lives.
 
^I dont give a **** about the alligator, kill the alligator.

Obviously the parents made a mistake. I have made mistakes too thankfully like yours mine wasn't tragic (I do appreciate your honesty) . But in the face of this set of parents a reminder of their mistake is as cruel as it gets.

Back to the gator if you think I am emotional so be it, but I know I will not be moved on the issue. I suppose you will not be either.

Respectfully disagree. I will respectively read any follow up thoughts of yours. But I doubt that I will comment futher, I am probably repeatedly repetitively redundant enough already.

Peace out.
 
Some thoughts regarding this tragedy. To me common sense dictates that you don't wander close to any habitat where Alligators or other predators are free to pounce but unfortunately common sense isn't always that common. Should the parents of the child been more vigilant? Of course they should have but for whatever reasons they did not sense potential danger and did what many parents have done over the years by sitting on a bench and watching their child play and explore.

In this instance I assign no blame to the parents or Disney and see what transpired as an "act of God" or in racing vernacular "just one of them racin deals." Beating up the parents serves no purpose as they will crucify themselves every day for the rest of their lives. Every time they drive by a nursery school, see a little league game being played, are invited to a high school graduation, attend a wedding or see others grandchildren they will wince with pain.

From what I have read Disney had 5 gators rounded up and killed which makes no sense at all as one day all is well and the next 5 random alligators become man eaters. I get it as optics dictate Disney does something to mollify the public and the pound of flesh comes in the form of killing 5 gators to make the public feel safer but killing 5 gators for ****s and grins is stupidity.
 
I had forgotten but I'm undergoing a refresher course with the boys. They turned 2 just 2 months ago and they are quick, Right beside you, blink twice and they're 10 feet away. I am not kidding.
I wish all the armchair media would STFU, they weren't there and are speculating.
 
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BobbyFord said:
The signage was no swimming, no signs were posted warning of alligators.
It is obvious that the parents didn't realize the risks involved.
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I agree and unfortunately a lot of people don't understand the danger alligators present especially when they are relaxed on vacation or just see them lazily sunning themselves and not moving for hours.

When I lived in Australia many visitors did not have a fear of snakes as they were not used to being around the non poisonous variety. You would have to beat it into them that a black or brown snake could kill them quickly and were not to be messed with.
 
Bobw said:
I had forgotten but I'm undergoing a refresher course with the boys. They turn 2 just 2 months ago and they are quick, Right beside you, blink twice and they're 10 feet away. I am not kidding.
I wish all the armchair media would STFU, they weren't there and are speculating.
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Anyone who disagrees that toddlers and young children can dart and disappear quickly has never had to be in charge of looking after them.
 
For anyone sitting online and complaining about the parents, please take a moment to read this. And if anyone says they've never had a toddler do something unexpected (like dart off in a split second), you're either lying, you've forgotten, or you are extremely, extremely fortunate. My kid tumbled down a flight of stairs as a toddler, and it happened within seconds, fortunately not sustaining serious injury (a long time ago....). By some people's view, that makes me a negligent parent.

http://www.people.com/article/disne...-fenton-defends-parents-impassioned-blog-post
 
I was at the "Stephen C. Foster - Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge" a few years back and me and a buddy rented a boat (12 foot Johnny with a 5 hp putter around engine). Everybody with brains knows that the place is "Alligator City". So sure enough we see a family and their kids are on mini-kayaks....independent...kids like 6 years old, on there own. I told my buddy "what the hell?"

He said "maybe it's safe because these are tame gators"

I said: "are you F#%!ing serious?...there is no such thing as a tame alligator...we aren't talking dogs here".
 
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