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>> Speaking of the uncanny feeling of shallow water, there are parts of the Florida keys ... > Leeches freak me out, I can't imagine swimming with (or falling
by AdieuToLogic 1y ago
>> Speaking of the uncanny feeling of shallow water, there are parts of the Florida keys ...
> Leeches freak me out, I can't imagine swimming with (or falling on) the gators!
FWIW, neither leeches nor alligators are indigenous to salt water, which is what surrounds the Florida keys.
- dhussoe 1y agoAlligators maybe not, but in the one time that I have paddleboarded in the keys I saw a crocodile. Probably a crocodile rather than a gator, I didn’t get that close… but from reading articles they’ll occasionally eat a small dog around there, so they are definitely out there.
- AdieuToLogic 1y agoSaltwater crocs do exist in southern Florida, no doubt. And there's some chance a gator could swim from one island to another (or the mainland). The easiest way to discern each is based on their snout. If the reptile you saw has a blunt nose about the same width as its jaw, then it's a gator. If, instead, the jaw looked more like a trapezoid, then it's a croc. Both are opportunistic hunters capable of taking down mammals up to adult bovines or horses. The latter two examples are rare as the size of the croc/gator has to be rather large.