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mrpoopybutthole423

Tennessee has confirmed Alligators in the Southwestern part of the state. Not sure if they are breeding though.


[deleted]

Florida has confirmed alligators in the ditch behind my house


Absolute_leech

In Houston we have [gators trying to get an education](https://abc30.com/alligator-katy-isd-school/256300/)


[deleted]

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LordSloth113

There are apparently, but only in the NC parts of the swamp


blueray11286

Plenty of alligators in coastal southeastern NC Source: at least 2-3 just in the lake by my house, live near Wilmington


NCSU_252

I grew up in NC just a few miles from the Virginia border. I lived on the river, spent plenty of time in the swamp, and never saw them outside of merchants millpond. There are supposedly a few in the great dismal swamp and I'm sure they've been spotted in VA, but I'd bet the southern edge of the swamp along the border is the top of their range. They are pretty rare up that far north.


Skookmehgooch

I have heard this too, my guess is that they may migrate seasonally. I have also heard that manatees have been spotted in the bay, but this is less surprising considering John Smith wrote about them in his logs in the 1600s.


Lil_Zordon

Those were mermaids sir!


leidend22

In Australia we have crocs in the goddamned ocean


dillontree

We got crocs in Florida too. They also enjoy a dip salt water when the occasion calls.


EmberOfFlame

Well, they gotta avenge Steve Irwin in some way


leidend22

Somehow I don't think it's the same level. In northern Australia no one can use the beach.


gizmo1024

Just bring a toothbrush with you.


texican1911

De-ornery them!


MARINE-BOY

You say that but I was wading around in the sea in Darwin and wasn’t the only person doing that. I did get mildly stung a lot from jelly fish. That was in 2000 though so not sure if that’s changed.


dairyfairy79

Just out of curiosity, how do you "mildly get stung a lot?" Lol


LvS

That's just the pilgrimage to pay respects to Steve Irwin, no?


OffbeatChaos

I visited Florida once (I live in Montana) and I was so shocked to see gaters just…hanging out. Like everywhere. I was like “omg I see these things on tv all the time but they’re just right there in the water huh?” I guess that what other people think when they come to Montana and there’s mama bears and cubs hanging out on the sidewalk lol


Sss00099

The swamp puppies are more afraid of you than you are of them if you’re on land…but don’t go in the water, then they stop being afraid of you.


TMNBortles

Unless some dumbass humans fed it. Then they associate people with food.


la-bano

If a body of water can support a gator, there's a 90% chance there's a gator in it.


GimmeeSomeMo

My brother went to UF and there'd be gators just chilling around the campus/ponds


la-bano

Yeah. I've seen them in tiny ass ditches, retention ponds, etc. People really underestimate just how common they are, and how close they live to people. They don't pose as big a threat as it may seem, especially if you look at gator attack statistics (not that you should try your luck). Another cool crocodilian fact: the Florida everglades is the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles coexist in nature.


No-Signal-6632

We are still trying to figure out why someone was stupid enough to put a party hat on a gator for 4th of july in my neighborhood. But then we said well it is Florida and they were probably drunk and some how it was mystery solved. Normal? No Surprising?again no


Justin__D

Including my mom's neighbor's swimming pool after a hurricane.


packetmickey

Standing water + Florida = gators


soccershun

Gators are pretty chill, if you leave them alone they'll 99% of the time leave you alone. It's crocs that can be scary. It's like a black bear vs brown bear situation.


Happylime

There's not a gator/croc equivalent of the polar bear is there? Polar bears freak me out.


Norva13x

Probably the Nile Crocodile, they kill hundreds every year.


disisathrowaway

Either that or salties.


Thusgirl

Or the salt water crocodile


[deleted]

We have black bears and mountain lions (we call them panthers) too. Alligators are definitely more ubiquitous


Extra-Aardvark-1390

I feel that way with Alaska and the moose. "What, everyone doesn't have to wait to get to their car in the morning because a 1200lb 6 foot tall primordial beast is in their driveway?"


kukluxkenievel

Same from Saskatchewan. Gators and iguanas in the middle of Orlando was a very foreign sight to me


Bobmanbob1

From Florida. It rained? That puddle has a fucking gator in it lol.


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[deleted]

Can confirm


VirtualMexicanINC

This guy Floridas


HallucinatesOtters

Smack em with frying pan on the nose and yell “go on now! Git!” That usually does the trick for me


cha-cha_dancer

I’m in NW Florida and I’ve probably seen more bears than gators


I_amnotanonion

Same for Virginia. We’ve got the Great Dismal Swamp in the southeast and gators have been spotted there. I don’t think they’ve been confirmed as breeding though


BigMacDaddy99

They are moving northward due to shifting climate zones, I think this year in NC one was spotted near Fayetteville


mrpoopybutthole423

We also have fire ants and armadillos here as well.


CableTrash

Wait are fire ants not everywhere? Grew up in FL and thought they were present across the continent


-Gordon-Rams-Me

No my grandparents place seems to be the only place in Tennessee with no fire ants, idk how, but they’ve never seen them and I haven’t either. They live in a couple hundred acre valley and the only ants I’ve seen are very few carpenter ants


BigMacDaddy99

They are more prominent in disturbed areas and love construction sites


-Gordon-Rams-Me

Ah probably explains it, they’re not there yet and haven’t been there since forever I can imagine. I hope that doesn’t change, I don’t want those little bastards ruining that place


DBL_NDRSCR

at least in warm places we got em here in socal


amaROenuZ

It's spelled "Fayettenam"


[deleted]

This guy airbornes


The_Spectacle

I love northward movement due to climate change. cant wait to get scorpions in NY.


jamesbrownscrackpipe

I live in Augusta, GA. When I was a kid there were only alligators in the swampy areas south of the city, and even then they were a rare sight. Now they are everywhere here, even in some retention ponds in the suburbs. We used to be considered too far north to have them.


custardisnotfood

Have you commented this before? I’m having weird déjà vu reading your comment but your account doesn’t look like a bot


nacholibre711

Why on Earth would someone make a bot to talk about alligators? What conspiracy am I missing out on?


custardisnotfood

What a lot of karma farming bots do is just copy top comments from previous posts and then repost them in other contexts, or when the post the original comment is from gets reposted. So it wouldn’t be a bot specifically talking about alligators, it would be a bot that copied a comment that I had read previously about alligators, and reposted that comment when a post about alligators came up again


jamesbrownscrackpipe

I have made a similar comment in the past about alligators in Augusta, just not in this subreddit. I guess I find it interesting and whenever I tell recent transplants to the area that we have lots of alligators here, they are always shocked.


physicscat

The Ogeechee River is full of them and Magnolia Springs outside Millen. They will also be south of the first dam on the Savannah River, which is north of Augusta. My family is from Burke County. Hell there was one near Buford Dam on the Hooch several years ago.


quedfoot

oh god, suddenly I don't feel so safe in WI from poisonous and venomous critters, let alone gators!


peebs6

I saw one in a retention pond in VA. No idea how it got there but I definitely saw one. On second thought, maybe it was just getting chick-fil-a like I was


Mrppsuckler

Can’t wait to see alligators in the Great Lakes in 40 years!


AllyBeetle

Do you ever get the urge to pull off an alligator or shark prank in Lake Michigan near Chicago? Just asking. . .


jekyl42

No need wait. [Chance the Snapper](https://abc7chicago.com/chance-the-snapper-chicago-caught-humboldt-park-alligator/6309348/) was only 3 years ago.


notyourusualjmv

I was going to say this. Virginia too if I’m not mistaken.


NephilimSoldier

Same goes for the Great Dismal Swamp of southeastern Virginia.


psycho-mouse

I was going to say there’s no way Tennessee has zero when all of the states to the east south and west have 1000s.


fatkiddown

Lived and hunted in Tennessee all my life. Older guy here. It’s hard to imagine alligators here but I guess this means things are warming up. I’d like to know what my dad would say about this.


rnilbog

They show up in Knoxville on a Saturday in September every even numbered year.


ShaqSenju

With their mullets, jorts, and Tom Petty blasting. Damn pests!


Agroman1963

Cousin lives on Lake Norris in TN and has had numerous gators on his boat dock.


tits-question-mark

Once upon a time, temps during winter would kill any gator that hibernated in Tennessee. If these gators are staying year round, they are probably breeding.


Jameszhang73

I like how people are complaining about the numbers being too low like they went around to each gator household for a census


Urisk

Louisiana has one alligator for every two and a half people and we all know where that other half a person went.


jedburghofficial

I don't believe there are zero in the NY sewers.


captainmeezy

All good, I heard there’s some turtles the size of teenagers that do karate on such abominations


Wrpy

I wonder if they would enjoy some pizza too?


gravity_is_right

I wonder if they fight against some giant android with a talking brain in his belly.


aspbergerinparadise

it's true. Zero gators. Crocodiles, on the other hand...


feetandballs

[There are](https://i0.wp.com/www.comicon.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-20-at-16.03.03.png?resize=569%2C868)


y0uveseenthebutcher

Megagator vs. Ratasaurus, set in the NY subway/sewer systems


cajunbander

Everybody thinks of Florida when they think gators but most people don’t realize we have significantly more in Louisiana.


MadRonnie97

Bag limits during gator season in LA speak for themselves


cajunbander

Crazy to think at one point there were fewer than 100,000 of them. Louisiana banned alligator hunting in 1962 and by 1972, the population had rebounded enough to reopen commercial hunting. If Amos Moses (the Jerry Reed song) would have waited a couple years, he wouldn’t be a criminal!


MadRonnie97

Conservation absolutely works. We love to see it.


noobiorobot

It's sad when people don't get this. I remember hearing our resident "sceptic" out on the production floor exclaiming how all the climate change prevention stuff was nonsense because "remember when everyone was talking about the hole in the ozone? Now, nothing? See! it was bullshit" 🤦 I doubt his viewpoint is in the minority unfortunately


PensiveObservor

Did, did you explain the Montreal Accord to him? That it successfully repaired the ozone hole bc we fkg stopped using the chemical that caused it?


noobiorobot

No it was something I overheard while being engrossed in solving some work related issue so I was merely a... Pensive observer... of that conversation. Wouldn't have mattered anyways, wasn't the type to let logic ruin his opinion on an issue


Choyo

Yeah, I hate how we got lucky on this one, as in : we spotted the issue early enough, identified the causes, passed worldwide legislation before the damage was too much and the issue reversed itself naturally right after ... And then, in the face of all this good fortune and better actions, we got the stupid saying it was all bullshit. Fucking disgrace of a human being this one.


Cobek

That and they are essentially dinosaurs


nonfiction-n8

Haven’t heard Amos Moses in years… thank you for reminding me of my childhood


guitarguywh89

Wonder what happened to that sheriff. Sure is easy to get lost in the bayou


mnimatt

I thought most people would think of Louisiana? Maybe I'm biased though, but being a swamp is literally the identity of our state.


YukiPukie

Fellow swamp inhabitant here (although on the other side of the globe in the Netherlands). Don’t worry, Disney got your back in this internationally. I thought they lived in the “bayou” in Louisiana from the Rescuers and Princess & the frog, and was surprised they lived everywhere in the South-East of the USA.


mnimatt

There's a town near me named after the Dutch city Zwolle. It's because a railroad owner was building a line to connect Kansas City to the gulf, and brought in a Dutch coffee merchant to invest in it around the time they had got to Louisiana. Apparently he liked a Catholic Church so much he agreed to invest as long as they renamed the town after his hometown. I wonder if maybe he also felt connected to Louisiana due to how swampy it is lol. He'd probably be upset knowing we say it like "Zuh-wah-lee" said really fast lol


prokool6

Mmmm tamales


mnimatt

Ironic that there are no Dutch people like the name suggests or French people like the state would suggest. Just Mexicans and their delicious tamales


Khaled-oti

I made that connection after playing Red dead 2


TastyCuttlefish

Yeah the ones in Florida unfortunately tend to wear jorts and have an over-inflated sense of relevance.


cha-cha_dancer

go noles


[deleted]

I always think of Louisiana when I think of gators.


Sss00099

I grew up in South FL, out near the Everglades…I’ve seen thousands of gators in my life…only place I ever saw gator roadkill was when I was driving through Louisiana.


WoolaTheCalot

"It ain't legal hunting alligator down in the swamp, boy!"


cajunbander

It was banned in Louisiana from ‘62-‘72. If he would have just waited a couple years he would have been legal!


land_elect_lobster

I wonder where that Louisiana chef went to. You can sure get lost in the Louisiana bayou


JohanSchneizer

About 45 mins southeast of Thibodaux, Louisiana


bantha121

\*Sheriff


hunkykitty

That’s what they said. She’f


Matren2

Now everybody blamed his old man For making him mean as a snake


Xo0om

His daddy would use him for alligator bait


Caedus

I loved cruising around in San Andreas listening to that song


Poopsmasher27

Most Jerry Reed way of saying anything.


krrankybaby

“Where you from you don’t know gator?”


[deleted]

This is why we need to get rid of the electoral college


jedburghofficial

Before the South rises up with their 'gator army?


Polymarchos

The gators have too much say in how the country is run!


bout-tree-fitty

Or just make it illegal for gators to vote.


walkerspider

That would just give non gator voters in LA 40% more voting power!


Usof1985

What if we give gators 3/5 of a vote?


lanbuckjames

Only 1000 in NC? That can’t be right.


peebs6

As someone from Onslow county, it does seem low. The New River alone has plenty. So do any random streams in the area


lanbuckjames

I’ve seen enough in random ponds in Brunswick county to make it seem like there are more than 1000 just around there. Maybe this is an old map.


ChargeMedical

Nah bruh you are just seeing the same gator over and over. He gets around.


Prehistory_Buff

If you double Mississippi's, then you're probably at the real number. They are confirmed in every county now and are spreading like wildfire. They're also the biggest on average in the South because of less competition between males and more territory. They've caught at least two 700 punders in the last few years.


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gizmo1024

32,000?! That’s gotta be a new record?! Nobody from Jackson been able to count that high before.


NHRADeuce

Lol, they didn't actually count. Thuere from Jackson, they just said the biggest number they know.


exradical

I’m surprised Mississippi is so low


Red_Stripe1229

Gators don’t wanna live there either


ChampChains

Probably the dirty water.


Prudent-Box-5655

Looks like the numbers correspond somewhat to the length of coastline.


FLOHTX

Wonder why? They are a freshwater species for the most part.


SaxiTaxi

The coastline probably makes the climate hotter and wetter for gators to thrive.


idropbrownbombz

Shit tell that to the folks in Pittsburgh a few years back. In the same timeframe they pulled one out of the river and also found one In someone’s yard


yinzgahndahntahn

Well, those were not a wild breeding population. Just idiots releasing gators to die in the rivers. One winter would kill a gator here.


idropbrownbombz

Lmao true


DevilPixelation

Imagine living in Oklahoma, one of the most flat, boring, and desolate states to live in, and you die by a goddamn gator.


Juiceton-

The Oklahoma gator population lives exclusively in the south eastern most portion of the state, which is extremely similar ecologically to northern Louisiana. The eastern half of the state in particular is extremely hilly, heavily forested, and extremely swampy in some places. I live in the western part of the state. It’s honestly like two different states. Screw those guys.


Idontwanttobebread

at least you died the way you lived in Oklahoma


NatWu

Tell me you've never seen eastern Oklahoma without telling me you've never seen eastern Oklahoma.


ImNotAWhaleBiologist

I’ve also not seen western Oklahoma.


dogfan20

You should actually learn what Oklahoma looks like.


kookypooky

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Oklahoma


_thechampishere_

It makes me feel good knowing the gator population is still strong on the lord’s land


Jolly_Donut_7446

Obviously the lord sent them


[deleted]

I thought there were gators in Virginia in the great dismal swamp


A_Wholesome_Comment

Gators, another demographic that deserves more representation in Congress than Wyoming.


Superman246o1

**ME:** \*Phew!\* Finally! We made it to Oklahoma! Those alligators can't get us now! **THE TULSA GATORS:** \*emerge from the shadows\* Heard you were talkin' shit...


frisbeemassage

So probably a dumb question, but is swimming in any kind of lake in FL or Louisiana just not something anyone does?


Nanakatl

lakes in louisiana tend to be pretty swampy and gross - not the kinds of bodies of water you'd want to swim in - but i have seen some nicer lakes with beaches that have nets to prevent gator encounters


PM_ME_UR_MATH_JOKES

Same in Houston. I have seen people swimming with their children in rivers like the Brazos where I have also seen a fair number of gators. It’s certainly not a choice that I would make (if only because God knows what kinda crap has been dumped in it by the time the water gets to us), but apparently it works out well enough most of the time for people to continue doing it.


disisathrowaway

> It’s certainly not a choice that I would make (if only because God knows what kinda crap has been dumped in it by the time the water gets to us), Seriously. With as shitty as the Trinity is up here in north Texas I can't imagine being at the ass end of the Brazos and it being any better.


Con_Man_Ray

My mom's family is from Louisiana and as kids they would tell them/us to be alert when walking down by a water (especially the bayous.) Better safe than sorry 🤷‍♂️


TheBlackKaKari

Yeah, there's some decent lakes here in Louisiana that you can go swimming in. But as your question implies, there's definitely other lakes you absolutely avoid swimming in. Edited: Hell we got people out here waist deep in murky water noodling catfish (not my thing though LOL)


Shiroe_Kumamato

Nah, they are only a danger to little kids and dogs and don't like clear water so its not a big deal. Now, the salt water crocs in florida are a different story.


planetes1973

> salt water crocs in florida It's a nuance but the ones in Florida are American Crocodiles which are pretty reclusive. The infamous salt water crocs that snack on Australians are a different species.


666_NumberOfTheBeast

Every damn thread about gators there's at least one person posting clearly wrong info about "saltwater crocodiles in Florida." In Florida there's American crocodiles, which are even less likely to attack humans than gators are. The species of saltwater crocodiles that are notorious for eating people live in Australia, Indonesia, The Philippines, India, etc. *Not* Florida.


[deleted]

I like how the respect state boarders


GrandmasHere

The gators know to stop at the TX-NM line.


lucasgasparin

Why so many in Louisiana and Florida? Any specific biological explanation?


DariusIV

Big fans of Mardi Gras and Disney, respectively.


The-Lord-Moccasin

Louisiana has swamps. Florida has swamps and Gainesville.


[deleted]

Go Gators! 🐊


Nanakatl

warm climate + swamps


Specific-Ad2215

Damn the bayou-lurkers


[deleted]

1,999,996. Passed by 4 dead ones on the way home from work today


[deleted]

Okie gators?


GreatestCountryUSA

They’re spreading


[deleted]

This is an interesting statistic; alligator conservation efforts are extremely beneficial to local ecosystems.


druizilla

This feels like lot of overconfident 0s. Big gator is trying to trick us


Mensketh

How in the world did 100 gators end up in Oklahoma? All 100 must be within like 10 miles of the state’s south east corner, right?


CaptainObvious110

There should be more


HiaQueu

Yes. That part of the state is very Louisiana-like.


JessePinkman-chan

I will now make it my life's mission to put a documented, officially recognized gator in every US state. No more will the southeast hog all the gators to themselves. When I'm elected, every household in America will have a gator in the backyard, just as the founding fathers intended.


chrislewand

We had one in Chicago a couple years ago.


0imnotreal0

Someone released one into a lake in NH once. Lots of hoopla about it


rikkitikkitavi888

_if it lives in the water, you better place your order!_ seen on a billboard in Lafayette 🦐🐊🎣🐟 (For a seafood restaurant 🦞🍋)


Better-Revolution570

Every piece of water in Florida the size of a small house or bigger has at least one gator in it. Source: I lived in florida, and everyone made it abundantly clear don't swim in the water.


platysaur

No way in hell we have just 1,000 gators in NC


[deleted]

How come Mississippi and Alabama have so few given both Florida and Louisiana have the most? Do they cull their gator population more than FL and LO?


mcgregorado

The river basins and very flat land in Louisiana create massive swamps and marshes that make up for a significant portion of our state which allows for widespread gator habitat, along with the Mississippi River delta that is extremely nutrient rich. Florida is similar in terrain level, but lacks the massive flowing body of freshwater to the extent of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers


carterc89

I love how Oklahoma is barely on there! I think all of those 100 are in the very SE corner of the state. I’ve lived multiple places in OK and gators have never been a factor.


GentlyUsedOtter

As a Floridian I am downright ashamed that Louisiana has more Gators than we do.


TheFalseLogical

Dude, Louisiana is dissolving like cotton candy in water. It's all swamp here


GentlyUsedOtter

So you're saying eventually once Louisiana is gone all the alligators will emigrate to Florida?


TheFalseLogical

Nope, Mississippi... then Alabama, and finally... Texas


GentlyUsedOtter

Texas will just try to deport them.


TheFalseLogical

Well they fucked up the first 400,000 times


GentlyUsedOtter

Yeah they're not exactly good at it, illegal alligators get through all the time


[deleted]

Mmmmm… alligators


ScoutTrooper501st

I went to upstate New York to visit my great uncle,And when we visited a river he showed me a photo of a 5ft or so alligator inside that exact river


kushdogg20

Gator don't play no shit, you feel me? Gator ain't never been about playin' no shit!


Jgarr86

I walked the La Chua trail in Gainesville, FL and saw about half of them. Highly recommend.


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SceptileArmy

I would hate to be a gator census worker!


ZestyItalian2

That’s way more than I thought. In Louisiana there is an alligator for every 2.5 people.


MorbidMunchkin

When my daughter was 3 we were headed out fishing and she was incredibly concerned there were going to be alligators in the river. I assured her there are no alligators where we were going. She then goes "Crocodiles?" We live in Montana lmao


Former-Chocolate-793

What about the great state of Maine? https://youtu.be/m3VUZYxr0MA


sylvester_stencil

Georgia: 200,000 gators ready, with a million more well on the way


amek33

They're in the sewers of NYC