i read about a little girl in florida that got grabbed by a gator, i think she was 8 or 9, and she stuck her fingers in the gator's nostrils. and he opened his mouth and she was able to get away.
@@GatorChris_I really want to know why the fuck not one thing that came out of your mouth was to carry a fixed knife on a drop leg holster. You are literally a fool
I love the fact of you having thus long monolog and Casper just, casually, slowly floats behind you. Entirely chill, not a care in the world. Life as a gator must be so nice lol.
@@DanielMeier-ox5kc its a myth u cant really make a gator full they just throw up and start eating again chris even said it himself in one of his videos it wouldnt work that way they are not like us we can feel when we are full they just keep eating and eating and eating chris is just not a prey for Casper thats the only reason he is alive and allowed as u see if he would start to move wrong he still would get bit cuz of the nature of those animals as he proofed in this video splash and they bite not cuz they are hungry but it could be food so why not
I’m surprised you don’t have more subs! Bro I saw that video of you on IG pushing a gater with two fingers telling it to “sit” lol so it’s crazy to randomly come across your channel! Keep up the great work! Your information is very knowledgeable!
The trust is insane! Although he is trained, he is still a wild animal, which means he is mostly unpredictable and with any wild animal, you should always keep your eyes on them, to read their body language for changes that may indicate a threat. He obviously spends an enormous amount of time with Casper and as a result, he has built enough trust to know his mood, and when he should and doesn’t need to spend 100% of his attention to his movements…quite an achievement. Much respect.
We are all wild animals and every soul can become unpredictable to others once in a while. What makes us safe for most of the time is not rules but a developed moral compass. Gators don't have this. Water splashing? Food! . Bite!
Here I am, a Michigander surrounded by fresh, gator free lakes, watching a video on what to do if I’m attacked by a gator. The algorithm is wild. But I watched the entire video.
Hey Chris! I’m really enjoying your show. I had no idea that gators could not breathe if they are unconscious. You have a good way of explaining things and making them very understandable. This is a first for me, watching your show, definitely not my last!
Very informative. Thank you for the demonstration & honesty. It's sad when people do stupid stuff & animals pay the price. I noticed that you keep an eye on Casper regardless of how tame he is with you. That alone is a testament to how dangerous even a docile gator can be
I met that guy who was attacked & bit around the head. He had a soft helmet on his head due to the crushed skull, as well as his mouth wired shut from a crushed jaw. He was at a triathlon cheering on his athletic club. He was the 3rd gator attack victim that I’ve met. Crazy, but true. My friend was attacked when sitting in her kayak, an elderly woman gardening w/ her back to a pond in a golf course community & the triathlon EMS guy.
@@tropicalties3806 …Sure. My husband and I had kayaked all over the state of Fl with another couple for 10+ years. We’d never had any run-ins w/ gators. On this day, we were kayaking on the Caloosahatchee River in our town of Ft Myers, like we had done 100’s of times. It’s a large and wide river with many mangrove islands. After kayaking around Bird Island, we decide to head back and cross the boating channel to the other side. My girlfriend went ahead of us pretty quick. She decided to wait for us about 30ft. off a mangrove island, one we had stopped at many times before. She was just resting in her kayak when she heard a tremendous splash. She knew it was a gator so she turned her body in the opposite direction while holding onto the the paddle. This big gator lunged up out of the water to grab her arm. The teeth grazed her arm and barely missed clamping down. It was very horrific and traumatizing for her. Her blood curtailing screams was something I had never heard in real life before. There’s was blood everywhere and we could tell how injured she was. We surrounded her with our kayaks and tied her’s u to to her husband. The 3 of us paddled as fast as we could to get her back to shore. That was a very long 15-20 minutes. She had to go to wound care for a while. She has a gator tooth scar on her forearm and will never get back in a kayak in FL every again. The weird thing is this: It was February. It wasn’t breeding season or nesting season. It wasn’t up in the weeds or in an obvious gator -preferred area. The wildlife team that was called thought it very odd and just chalked it up to being a “rouge gator.” For me, It took me a year before I got back in my kayak. Unfortunately we lost our kayak buddies and this is such a shame, because we enjoyed our weekend trips so much. The older woman I met who was attacked, was doing gardening in her yard with her back to a golf course pond. This is a huge no-no. A 10 ft. gator came out of the water, grab her leg and started pulling her back to the pond. A couple of men ran to her side and got her loose. She was in the hospital for many months and had to have major skin grafts. She developed pretty serious acrophobia and couldn’t leave her house for a year. She’s never been the same. Now, we have crocodiles in our area off Sanibel. It’s creepy, but I will still kayak. I no longer go up into small creeks in the winter time because the water is too low and there isn’t enough safe-space between me and a potential gator.
Great video Chris! I love that you don’t sugar coat anything and you tell it like it is. Casper is so cool and the relationship you have with him is awesome! Keep up the great work and take care. 😄💙🐬🐊🐍
Chris, you are so knowledgeable about so many things. I could listen to you forever, plus you are cute and have such a nice soothing voice. Thank you for everything you do!!! God Bless you and keep you safe!
Born and raised in Florida on the water. I've been chased by gators up trees, I've had baby gators crawl across my toes, etc. We lived on a canal with a massive resident bull and his harem, essentially. He was pretty docile, except for mating season. We always let them be wild though and respected their boundaries, so no incidents. I will say that there are places where I grew up swimming and we were more than aware that gators were there. We lived near a creek with a rope swing. We'd spend hours swinging and swimming. Once, we camped on the bank and shined a lot on the water. So many red eyes. Oops.😂 But no attacks ever. Our cultute is the water here in Florida and my family is no different. We skiied, went tubing, fishing, etc. BUT this was in the same area with the same animals, and there was lots of boating activity in these areas. I would not go to a new strip of that water and expect the same result. Moreover, I wouldn't swim in 98% of the freshwater we have here and I probably wouldn't swim that creek anymore. As a rule, I usually tell all the transplants that if I don't swim there, you shouldn't either. I stick to salt water, but I absolutely love our native wildlide and feel blessed that I had the opportunity to live among them. We have a nature preserve next to us and it makes me nervous to watch people take their small dogs and toddlers along the floating dock. A few dogs have been taken over there, but I'm just waiting for something more serious. People get really complacent and it'll cost them.
@@G.Harley.DavidsonI live in the countryside in Florida near a river and somewhat swampy area... My brother had an outside dog for about 10 years and it a gator never got it (it died of cancer). I live in the NW part of Florida though... It's colder up here so not as many gators.
@@G.Harley.Davidson The same could be said everywhere. Cars, bodies of water, weather, coyotes, livestock-- all of these things could be a threat to a pet dog if it gets out. So we're not putting our animals in any more or less risk by living here. It's important to stay alert. I don't allow my dog to walk on the floating dock, but I have no qualms about taking her to the park where that dock is. We stay a good distance from the water. If I we go near the water, I pick her up. I showed my nieces (who are not from the state) some basic alligator behavior. In truth, they are rather predictable animals who will only operate within a certain set of behaviors. When it was just the girls looking at this alligator sunning itself, the animal did nothing. But I stepped forward, holding the dog (an animal small enough to be prey) and it immediately slipped into the water. It was waiting for an opportunity. And me, being a responsible pet owner, didn't give it one. Nothing happened. Basic awareness and common sense.
Are you saying it’s not safe to take a small dog on a floating boat dock during the day? I would never do so at night and always assumed it was safe during the day. Also, do you recommend not kayaking in lakes and rivers with gators because there is always the possibility of tipping over and getting back into a kayak can cause a lot of surface commotion. Your thoughts?
He actually answered this in another video. He said that yes he is. If he got knocked out or in any way became vulnerable, Casper would most likely attack him.
@@user-in6pw5vf3t Wouldn’t say they have no feelings. There are many recorded cases of crocodiles and alligators becoming friendly and even lifelong friends with the people who saved them. Wouldn’t say it’s particularly common, but it’s not rare either.
@@jesusofbullets nope, Chris has said many times that alligators do not have feelings, this is even backed up by science, they simply get along with other alligators/people or whatever, but if they have the chance they will still kill and eat those that they know, best example was said by Chris, 2 alligators that knew each other for a long time and used to mate during the mating season, one of them had a seizure and the other one started to eat the vulnerable alligator right away
@jesusofbullets It's a reptile. That's where the term cold blooded came from. Reptiles have no empathy or feelings. They can't get attached. You can prob use positive reinforcement to train them to not attack you, because you're the one that feeds it. Most importantly keep it fed so it doesn't get hungry. Then it will eat anything. It's survival instinct.
i recently saw a video of a woman sitting on her paddle board at one of the Springs that FL has near Ocala (I think that is where the Spring was, i'm from NY and don't know much about FL). a huge alligator apparently swam right next to her and just hung out, but way too close. She took her paddle and pushed him away. She got a ton of flack for doing that but from what you say here, she did the right thing it seems. I guess it was assumed that he had been fed and so he had to be euthanized? I watched another video at another Spring where people were in innertubes floating when an alligator surfaced and made a b-line for a group of kids. the kids started screaming and it turned and swam off. the parent that was videotaping the event was extremely blasé about the near miss. a little toddler in the innertube was terrified and wanted to get away. he laughed and said the alligator is harmless and basically devalued her fight or flight response (which i think is a very bad idea since she is pretty little and is definitely prey.
Yes, the locals are very aware of the woman. She actually harassed the gator. Rode right up to it they started acting like it was chasing her. The gator was just chilling until she came along and bother him for a tictok video.....
I live in Sweden so I will never come across an aligator nor a crocodile here but I think it's very interresting to see professionals talk and explain situations that might arise from being in their environment. Great video! Keep it up :)
I had to cover the screen to be able to listen due to crazy levels of anxiety when seeing Casper floating an easy snack distance away from you. This will play on repeat in my nightmares.
I appreciate the honesty, "You're probably going to die." That tells you to NOT get yourself into this kind of situation if at all possible. I know I won't be going near any water that contains alligators any time soon! All your hand movements make me so nervous!
I have recently started watching your videos and I think they are incredible. I have never really been interested in Gators until now. Thank you for the entertaining/educational content. Do you have a video on the differences between Crocs and Gators? I am very curious. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for explaining, I do not think I’ll ever find myself in this situation, but if I do find myself in this situation, then this video has increased my chances of survival!
Knowing now, how hard you work to keep your ponds clean.! The water here is crystal clear! It's so pretty and we never see algea! This place does a great job at keeping. It clean!
Floridian and a long time fan and THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS TO THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK. Great explanations and education. People, Chris is a professional. If I fall in Casper will see an odd looking duck head and eat me. Thanks Chris for everything.
I was swimming across the river where I grew up in NE Florida when I caught one out of the corner of my eye. It was within 6 foot of my location and I was about 70 yards from shore. I calmly told it that I saw it and I kicked myself out of the water to look as big as possible. I then very calmly side stroked to shore. I never took my eyes off of it. It never took its eyes off of me. It didn't try to close the gap. I steadily gained distance. Once I climbed onto the dock, it turned around and went towards the marsh on the other side of the river. Luckily, it was only about 7 or 8 foot and still a fairly young animal. I got away. Never swam across again. This was after about 15 years of swimming in this river and never having an encounter. They never messed with people, but we did have some dogs come up missing over the years. We let them be in their area and they, for the most part, left us alone.
I saw an alligator for the first time on a golf course. My ball was just on the other side of the pond about 30 feet away and I simply admired it from a distance. I was very nervous though because to hit my next shot I had to turn my back to it. Thankfully after watching some of your videos I know respect their space and they’ll respect yours
How did I even get to this video in my feed. I watched it all- simply fascinating. I am still terrified of them, but if I ever fall in murky alligator infested water,I am diving deep stealthily swimming for survival while all those around me perish, lol. Great job.
Hi Chris Excellent video. Such important information, if you see a wild alligator in the water. I hope that people take your advice. It could save their life. Cindy
Thanks for doing this video Chris, really fascinating information about Alligator behaviour and their hunting techniques. Absolutely zero chance of me going anywhere near any body of water in any country that has these incredible Crocodilians.
One of the funniest things I ever heard growing up was some drunk guy wrestling and fighting an alligator on a road. He managed to subdue it and threw it in the back of his truck. He was covered in cuts and lacerations.. his clothes covered in blood. He bragged to his friends and family all night... the next morning, they checked on it... turns out the alligator was a blown 18 wheeler tread. The cuts were from the tread wires. I would have paid good money to see that epic battle.
5:55 - Have you done/would you make a more in-depth video on behavioral differences between different crocodilians? All the videos already out there if you search 'crocodiles vs alligators' seem very surface level, just talking about the different snout shapes and coloration.
As a native Floridian from Copeland back woods,I grew up swimming with gators in highly infested waters ,great vid,also want to say thanks for telling everyone that it is illegal to feed gators and why like they will grab children and pets as well if you show up with no food then you become good as well as endangering the community
i might be wrong but at 17:15 right after the slap he goes under the water and kinda does the swinging "search" thing to look for what caused the splash. if true that was a cool example of it
The swimming away under water advice unfortunately not from you probably saved my life when I was very young... Large gator snack sized basically. Thanks for spreading the word with a dose of healthy fear.
Excellent information and the honesty is very, very necessary. Too many watch some Hollywood movie or the Dodo or have this cuddly idea about wild animals...always learn about the animals you might be encountering (if one must...your advice is the best, however if one is camping for eg and might encounter bears, skunks etc). My question is about kayaking/canoeing - I'm not even near FL but are those activities safe in waters where there could potentially be alligators? I've seen videos of that and have wondered if the size of the kayak or canoe would frighten the gators or at least signal that is not prey.
Wow it's amazing.. you have an understanding with them, but the least little thing goes wrong it's ready to rip you up and it wouldn't care or miss you in the slightest. Look what happened to Siegfried & Roy!
What do you suggest Chris if you tip a kayak with gators in the area? Getting back into the kayak will obviously cause a lot of surface splashing and cause the situation you described that should be avoided (ringing the dinner bell).
OMG .. I never thought I would say this about an alligator but Casper and you are so good together and here comes those words..👉🏽 Casper is super adorable. 🥰😍🥰 Chris, I appreciate your honesty and the education and hopefully when I’m in Florida, I’ll get the chance to do your tour. Keep up the good work and please continue with the videos, they are very informative and I love seeing you interact with your Alligator family-friends… 😎 When I see you, I see the same passion as Steve Irwin of whom I loved every thing he stood for. 😎
Thank you for sharing. Very curious, 1) what makes it safe to swim at your pool with the alligators ? And 2) how do you know certainly that the alligators won’t attack you in any given moment ? Cheers.
I swim with wild alligators and they try to kill me, so Casper is welcome to try whatever he can, I’ll handle it. It’s safe for guests because they’re behind the safety fence
Great information, thanks! I like to kayak in the FL springs. Scuba and snorkel Eg. Rainbow river. Kayak Silver Springs, Scube Ginny Springs. Have kayaked right over a gator a few feet under me. (Didn’t see him until nearly on top. Any cautions here? Thanks.
I was kayaking the spring run at Alexander Springs (very remote and wild). It was May and I was thinking what would I do if a female defending a nest came after me? I have seen an absolutely huge gator up ahead while paddling a creek in NE FL. I let him go on about his business before I passed where he was. And I paddled quite a bit faster.😮
Was surfing in Costa Rica and a Caiman, I think is the species, not an expert in identification of croc/gator etc, but she, felt like a girl, popped up about 10 - 15 feet away as I was paddling, I stopped paddling, we looked at each other, I was extremely calm, after a few moments I just paddled away, no issue. But I was certainly vulnerable, and I think Caiman is a relatively mellow species…???
Casper seems to like you, at least in the sense that an animal that might suddenly decide to eat you can. I’ve been fascinated by animal psychology, intelligence, and behavior, particularly in relation to their interactions with humans. I feel like crocodilians are generally viewed as simplistic and primitive, but they’re unique among non-avian reptiles in raising their young and they seem to have a greater degree of intelligence and trainability, especially American alligators, than you’d expect. I have no illusions that you could ever totally let your guard down around these guys, but it’s a great illustration of how fascinating they are.
You can say to people not too do things but..... People are sometimes ( most of the time) stubborn ( dumm ) and do things even they know its dangerous. Look at traffic, the law say 60 miles on that road and no turning around on the road what do a lot of people..... They go 70 75 miles and they do turn around with a lot of death or hurt on that road. I am Dutch and my English is not the best but i hope you understand what i mean to say. I love this channel and Chris & Gabby do great work with animals and give them the love they need. Greetings from the Netherlands.
In Ranger school you have to make swamp water crossings at Elgin AFB, Florida, also in Aviation SERE school at Ft. Rucker, AL where alligators are present. I’ve always wondered what to do if an alligator approached. Some folks have said to swim underwater, but that just goes against all human instincts.
Thanks for this video it is very informative. I had a nightmare about floating in a river directly into an alligator some other factors that may help you survive is the number of alligators and obviously the size of the alligator. Now I have to get counseling about what the nightmare meant.
Greetings, I was wondering if gators ever attack people from below or if they only come at people on the surface of the water. I’d be interested to see a video about this and similar things.
Chris , if you don’t mind. I just want to ask you how do you dive in wild water with crocs inside . I saw you diving with them and you seem to not have problem at all.
I’ve watched many of your videos and I’ve got a serious question, is Casper just waiting to bite you at all times? And how do you know how to avoid him snapping at you? It would be awesome if you made a video in regards to how you constantly stay out of snapping territory please, regards Letisha 💕 from Australia, a very curious person
Lol Casper is just the most chill one the other gators definitely do snap at Chris and that’s why he does most of his videos with Casper he’s said it and showed the other gators which aren’t as tame as Casper especially the girl I forget her name lol
It's Casper's instinct to bite at what triggers his many sensors along his snout. Hence why he bit the splash earlier in the video. If Casper ever bites it'll definitely be from confusion or some other accident.
this was pretty informative. Ngl, I sense adhd rants from this lol. I am glad that you really put out there that this isn't something cool to do, and is in fact very foolish to think you can just handle a huge apex predator like this. The fact that you basically are realistic and say yeah this creature will kill you if you attempt anything like this, I think that's great. A lot of people really do foolish things cuz they think they got it handled. I like the demonstrations too where you merely slap your hand down in the water and there's an immediate reaction. Like despite how chill he seems in there with you, he's still very much an instinctive animal. (though I gotta say I think it's pretty funny that he's just around in there lookin all tired and sleepy and swimming around. Makes him look super lazy gator like eh just living my best life.) I think the examples given here really do show the danger in a safe way, because even if they're trained and or known you all their life, they're just gonna have their instinctive reactions that you can't just get rid of because they know you, at least not entirely. A lot of people see videos with big reptiles like this and think omgosh I want an alligator, without realising what it really takes and what they're truly capable of. So truly, I'm so glad that you're out there informing people, especially informing them that they probably gonna die. As weird as that sounds lol. I do hope it deters people from wishing to pursue those desires, not just for their sake, but for the sake of the animal too. Though curious specifically about what you mention with a high pain tolerance. I remember seeing this video about this guy who took a frying pan to gator, maybe it was a croc idk. Idk what your experience is, but curious about your thoughts about what if you did something like that on land and had to go in thigh or waist deep water? Would that even work? Is a frying pan just scaring them away, or would it really hurt them? I'm curious to know lol, not that I think it's a good idea however, just makes me curious since you see some pretty crazy stories out there sometimes.
Yes, I worked at a theme park that had nile crocs, and they fed them from a bridge. Once while guests were present, a big pelican was on the bridge and jumped off, and those crocs were ON it....end of the pelican, and not a nice show for the members of the public to see. The crocs were habituated to be fed from the bridge. This is not something that normal folks would think about when they're having fun interacting with nature by feeding gators. That little boy that got eaten by a gator at another theme park was in an area where gators were habituated to the presence of humans, so they weren't afraid of them. That's why there were signs everywhere warning people, but everyone thinks those signs don't apply to them, until it's too late. Thanks for your wonderful educational videos, Chris!
I love how his demonstration of how not to swim grabbed Casper's attention..
That was terrifying 😅
@@mistsrider I felt that too. Demonstrating what not to do, and all the sudden he's right there.
I see why you became a tour guide. You are really good at explaining/conversing/generally being really friendly.
🙌
@@GatorChris_you could talk about anything and make it entertaining 😂
Very entertaining and knowledgeable, but I wouldn't ever get into the water with a gator,like Chris said, it's not to be trusted, it's not a dog.
i read about a little girl in florida that got grabbed by a gator, i think she was 8 or 9, and she stuck her fingers in the gator's nostrils. and he opened his mouth and she was able to get away.
@@GatorChris_I really want to know why the fuck not one thing that came out of your mouth was to carry a fixed knife on a drop leg holster. You are literally a fool
I love the fact of you having thus long monolog and Casper just, casually, slowly floats behind you. Entirely chill, not a care in the world.
Life as a gator must be so nice lol.
As long as you don't have to share the waters with hippos, its pretty much smooth sailing.
Unless u end up as a wallet/belt/shoes....
That’s because he’s not hungry
@@DanielMeier-ox5kcno it’s because he doesn’t see Chris as prey.
@@DanielMeier-ox5kc its a myth u cant really make a gator full they just throw up and start eating again
chris even said it himself in one of his videos it wouldnt work that way they are not like us we can feel when we are full they just keep eating and eating and eating
chris is just not a prey for Casper thats the only reason he is alive and allowed as u see if he would start to move wrong he still would get bit cuz of the nature of those animals as he proofed in this video splash and they bite not cuz they are hungry but it could be food so why not
I’m surprised you don’t have more subs! Bro I saw that video of you on IG pushing a gater with two fingers telling it to “sit” lol so it’s crazy to randomly come across your channel!
Keep up the great work! Your information is very knowledgeable!
Thanks!
he has a second channel you can find in his about
I die
Casper is so darn adorable!!!!! 🐊
He is!
@@GatorChris_ 😊😊😊😊
Your a funny looking duck 🦆 😂
Until he bites you lol
@@GatorChris_ Isn't it hard to be always on guard, that you dont trip up in the presence of gators.
The trust is insane! Although he is trained, he is still a wild animal, which means he is mostly unpredictable and with any wild animal, you should always keep your eyes on them, to read their body language for changes that may indicate a threat. He obviously spends an enormous amount of time with Casper and as a result, he has built enough trust to know his mood, and when he should and doesn’t need to spend 100% of his attention to his movements…quite an achievement. Much respect.
We are all wild animals and every soul can become unpredictable to others once in a while. What makes us safe for most of the time is not rules but a developed moral compass. Gators don't have this. Water splashing? Food! . Bite!
Here I am, a Michigander surrounded by fresh, gator free lakes, watching a video on what to do if I’m attacked by a gator. The algorithm is wild. But I watched the entire video.
Germany here - not even on the same continent as any gator
@@MoMo-kq5nw German here too xD you never know what the Mecklenburger lakes could throw at you :P
Hey Chris! I’m really enjoying your show. I had no idea that gators could not breathe if they are unconscious. You have a good way of explaining things and making them very understandable. This is a first for me, watching your show, definitely not my last!
Chris, awesome channel. Glad you created it. It’s really fascinating to watch you interact with the gators and learn more about them.
Very informative. Thank you for the demonstration & honesty. It's sad when people do stupid stuff & animals pay the price. I noticed that you keep an eye on Casper regardless of how tame he is with you. That alone is a testament to how dangerous even a docile gator can be
I met that guy who was attacked & bit around the head. He had a soft helmet on his head due to the crushed skull, as well as his mouth wired shut from a crushed jaw. He was at a triathlon cheering on his athletic club. He was the 3rd gator attack victim that I’ve met. Crazy, but true. My friend was attacked when sitting in her kayak, an elderly woman gardening w/ her back to a pond in a golf course community & the triathlon EMS guy.
Would you care to share the details of the kayak attack?
@@tropicalties3806 …Sure. My husband and I had kayaked all over the state of Fl with another couple for 10+ years. We’d never had any run-ins w/ gators. On this day, we were kayaking on the Caloosahatchee River in our town of Ft Myers, like we had done 100’s of times. It’s a large and wide river with many mangrove islands. After kayaking around Bird Island, we decide to head back and cross the boating channel to the other side. My girlfriend went ahead of us pretty quick. She decided to wait for us about 30ft. off a mangrove island, one we had stopped at many times before. She was just resting in her kayak when she heard a tremendous splash. She knew it was a gator so she turned her body in the opposite direction while holding onto the the paddle. This big gator lunged up out of the water to grab her arm. The teeth grazed her arm and barely missed clamping down. It was very horrific and traumatizing for her. Her blood curtailing screams was something I had never heard in real life before. There’s was blood everywhere and we could tell how injured she was. We surrounded her with our kayaks and tied her’s u to to her husband. The 3 of us paddled as fast as we could to get her back to shore. That was a very long 15-20 minutes. She had to go to wound care for a while. She has a gator tooth scar on her forearm and will never get back in a kayak in FL every again.
The weird thing is this: It was February. It wasn’t breeding season or nesting season. It wasn’t up in the weeds or in an obvious gator -preferred area. The wildlife team that was called thought it very odd and just chalked it up to being a “rouge gator.” For me, It took me a year before I got back in my kayak. Unfortunately we lost our kayak buddies and this is such a shame, because we enjoyed our weekend trips so much.
The older woman I met who was attacked, was doing gardening in her yard with her back to a golf course pond. This is a huge no-no. A 10 ft. gator came out of the water, grab her leg and started pulling her back to the pond. A couple of men ran to her side and got her loose. She was in the hospital for many months and had to have major skin grafts. She developed pretty serious acrophobia and couldn’t leave her house for a year. She’s never been the same. Now, we have crocodiles in our area off Sanibel. It’s creepy, but I will still kayak. I no longer go up into small creeks in the winter time because the water is too low and there isn’t enough safe-space between me and a potential gator.
I bet there are still kayak tours in the everglades
Even though I’m never around 🐊 and don’t plan to, I found this video to be very educational. I did learn new material today about alligators.
I love how you explain everything so well. Thank you!
🙌
Great video Chris! I love that you don’t sugar coat anything and you tell it like it is. Casper is so cool and the relationship you have with him is awesome! Keep up the great work and take care. 😄💙🐬🐊🐍
Chris, you are so knowledgeable about so many things. I could listen to you forever, plus you are cute and have such a nice soothing voice. Thank you for everything you do!!! God Bless you and keep you safe!
Born and raised in Florida on the water. I've been chased by gators up trees, I've had baby gators crawl across my toes, etc. We lived on a canal with a massive resident bull and his harem, essentially. He was pretty docile, except for mating season. We always let them be wild though and respected their boundaries, so no incidents. I will say that there are places where I grew up swimming and we were more than aware that gators were there. We lived near a creek with a rope swing. We'd spend hours swinging and swimming. Once, we camped on the bank and shined a lot on the water. So many red eyes. Oops.😂 But no attacks ever. Our cultute is the water here in Florida and my family is no different. We skiied, went tubing, fishing, etc. BUT this was in the same area with the same animals, and there was lots of boating activity in these areas. I would not go to a new strip of that water and expect the same result. Moreover, I wouldn't swim in 98% of the freshwater we have here and I probably wouldn't swim that creek anymore. As a rule, I usually tell all the transplants that if I don't swim there, you shouldn't either. I stick to salt water, but I absolutely love our native wildlide and feel blessed that I had the opportunity to live among them. We have a nature preserve next to us and it makes me nervous to watch people take their small dogs and toddlers along the floating dock. A few dogs have been taken over there, but I'm just waiting for something more serious. People get really complacent and it'll cost them.
Always wondered how it is safe to have a pet dog in Florida knowing that they may escape a fence or pen.
@@G.Harley.DavidsonI live in the countryside in Florida near a river and somewhat swampy area... My brother had an outside dog for about 10 years and it a gator never got it (it died of cancer). I live in the NW part of Florida though... It's colder up here so not as many gators.
@@G.Harley.Davidson The same could be said everywhere. Cars, bodies of water, weather, coyotes, livestock-- all of these things could be a threat to a pet dog if it gets out. So we're not putting our animals in any more or less risk by living here. It's important to stay alert. I don't allow my dog to walk on the floating dock, but I have no qualms about taking her to the park where that dock is. We stay a good distance from the water. If I we go near the water, I pick her up. I showed my nieces (who are not from the state) some basic alligator behavior. In truth, they are rather predictable animals who will only operate within a certain set of behaviors. When it was just the girls looking at this alligator sunning itself, the animal did nothing. But I stepped forward, holding the dog (an animal small enough to be prey) and it immediately slipped into the water. It was waiting for an opportunity. And me, being a responsible pet owner, didn't give it one. Nothing happened. Basic awareness and common sense.
Are you saying it’s not safe to take a small dog on a floating boat dock during the day? I would never do so at night and always assumed it was safe during the day. Also, do you recommend not kayaking in lakes and rivers with gators because there is always the possibility of tipping over and getting back into a kayak can cause a lot of surface commotion. Your thoughts?
11:39
I am curious. Are you in danger of Casper possibly attacking you when something random like a tree branch falls on him while you're close?
He actually answered this in another video. He said that yes he is. If he got knocked out or in any way became vulnerable, Casper would most likely attack him.
@@user-in6pw5vf3t
Wouldn’t say they have no feelings. There are many recorded cases of crocodiles and alligators becoming friendly and even lifelong friends with the people who saved them. Wouldn’t say it’s particularly common, but it’s not rare either.
@@jesusofbullets nope, Chris has said many times that alligators do not have feelings, this is even backed up by science, they simply get along with other alligators/people or whatever, but if they have the chance they will still kill and eat those that they know, best example was said by Chris, 2 alligators that knew each other for a long time and used to mate during the mating season, one of them had a seizure and the other one started to eat the vulnerable alligator right away
@jesusofbullets It's a reptile. That's where the term cold blooded came from. Reptiles have no empathy or feelings. They can't get attached. You can prob use positive reinforcement to train them to not attack you, because you're the one that feeds it. Most importantly keep it fed so it doesn't get hungry. Then it will eat anything. It's survival instinct.
@@jesusofbullets you're absolutrly living in a disney imaginary land bro.
Awwww❤ sweet Casper…. Cute swamp puppy🤣❤️thx for doing what you do, your videos are amazing
Thanks for another great video Chris! Love Casper just hanging out during the entire video! 😂
i recently saw a video of a woman sitting on her paddle board at one of the Springs that FL has near Ocala (I think that is where the Spring was, i'm from NY and don't know much about FL). a huge alligator apparently swam right next to her and just hung out, but way too close.
She took her paddle and pushed him away.
She got a ton of flack for doing that but from what you say here, she did the right thing it seems.
I guess it was assumed that he had been fed and so he had to be euthanized?
I watched another video at another Spring where people were in innertubes floating when an alligator surfaced and made a b-line for a group of kids. the kids started screaming and it turned and swam off.
the parent that was videotaping the event was extremely blasé about the near miss. a little toddler in the innertube was terrified and wanted to get away. he laughed and said the alligator is harmless and basically devalued her fight or flight response (which i think is a very bad idea since she is pretty little and is definitely prey.
There's an irresponsible parent who shouldn't have kids...
Yes, the locals are very aware of the woman. She actually harassed the gator. Rode right up to it they started acting like it was chasing her. The gator was just chilling until she came along and bother him for a tictok video.....
I live in Sweden so I will never come across an aligator nor a crocodile here but I think it's very interresting to see professionals talk and explain situations that might arise from being in their environment. Great video! Keep it up :)
Great that you were straightforward right at the start! ☠️
Doing this whole thing in one take, really well done
I had to cover the screen to be able to listen due to crazy levels of anxiety when seeing Casper floating an easy snack distance away from you. This will play on repeat in my nightmares.
😂 Same!
I appreciate the honesty, "You're probably going to die." That tells you to NOT get yourself into this kind of situation if at all possible. I know I won't be going near any water that contains alligators any time soon! All your hand movements make me so nervous!
I have recently started watching your videos and I think they are incredible. I have never really been interested in Gators until now. Thank you for the entertaining/educational content. Do you have a video on the differences between Crocs and Gators? I am very curious. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for explaining, I do not think I’ll ever find myself in this situation, but if I do find myself in this situation, then this video has increased my chances of survival!
You speak English so so well. Really, I am Spanish and I usually don't understand others speaking English without subs. But I understand you!!!!
Great advice Chris! You're always teaching us useful tips .
So glad for long format videos. Hate the clip, shorts ect pushed by media.
Gives us a scary talk about how alligators are dangerous.
Shows us a cute gator with the attitude of a puppy.
This is like the forbidden fruit effect.
"attitude of a puppy" man what puppies do you know xD
once again another informative talk. thank you Chris!
Knowing now, how hard you work to keep your ponds clean.! The water here is crystal clear! It's so pretty and we never see algea! This place does a great job at keeping. It clean!
Floridian and a long time fan and THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS TO THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK. Great explanations and education. People, Chris is a professional. If I fall in Casper will see an odd looking duck head and eat me. Thanks Chris for everything.
Casper listens better than my dog!
I’d love to hear Chris’s opinion of ppl swimming and tubing in ichetucknee or blue springs
To sum it all up, if you encounter an alligator in the water, tilt your head back and show as much neck as possible to speed things up.
Yup 😂
You're not serious 😂.
funny!!!
Haha!!
Dude, your awesome man. Love your honesty and all your knowledge.
I was swimming across the river where I grew up in NE Florida when I caught one out of the corner of my eye. It was within 6 foot of my location and I was about 70 yards from shore. I calmly told it that I saw it and I kicked myself out of the water to look as big as possible. I then very calmly side stroked to shore. I never took my eyes off of it. It never took its eyes off of me. It didn't try to close the gap. I steadily gained distance. Once I climbed onto the dock, it turned around and went towards the marsh on the other side of the river. Luckily, it was only about 7 or 8 foot and still a fairly young animal. I got away. Never swam across again. This was after about 15 years of swimming in this river and never having an encounter. They never messed with people, but we did have some dogs come up missing over the years. We let them be in their area and they, for the most part, left us alone.
I saw an alligator for the first time on a golf course. My ball was just on the other side of the pond about 30 feet away and I simply admired it from a distance. I was very nervous though because to hit my next shot I had to turn my back to it. Thankfully after watching some of your videos I know respect their space and they’ll respect yours
Thank you for your repeated trepidation, and thank you for the wonderful information
How did I even get to this video in my feed. I watched it all- simply fascinating. I am still terrified of them, but if I ever fall in murky alligator infested water,I am diving deep stealthily swimming for survival while all those around me perish, lol. Great job.
Thanks for informing us how dangerous these guys are. Hopefully people can coexist and respect these creatures ❤
Hi Chris Excellent video. Such important information, if you see a wild alligator in the water. I hope that people take your advice. It could save their life. Cindy
Your explanation and vids are ace Chris .
Casper its litteraly a masterpiece
Thanks for doing this video Chris, really fascinating information about Alligator behaviour and their hunting techniques. Absolutely zero chance of me going anywhere near any body of water in any country that has these incredible Crocodilians.
also sharks 2 esp the great white and bull sharks can kill
I love it how he hangs out with you! Is there a video of how you got him?
One of the funniest things I ever heard growing up was some drunk guy wrestling and fighting an alligator on a road. He managed to subdue it and threw it in the back of his truck. He was covered in cuts and lacerations.. his clothes covered in blood. He bragged to his friends and family all night... the next morning, they checked on it... turns out the alligator was a blown 18 wheeler tread. The cuts were from the tread wires. I would have paid good money to see that epic battle.
😂😂😂😂
Saludos!!! From Mexico City im a very big fan of you guys!! (Chris-Casper)
Awesome! Thank you!
5:55 - Have you done/would you make a more in-depth video on behavioral differences between different crocodilians? All the videos already out there if you search 'crocodiles vs alligators' seem very surface level, just talking about the different snout shapes and coloration.
As a native Floridian from Copeland back woods,I grew up swimming with gators in highly infested waters ,great vid,also want to say thanks for telling everyone that it is illegal to feed gators and why like they will grab children and pets as well if you show up with no food then you become good as well as endangering the community
Absolutely nuts to be in the water with this guy! I hope you’re not dinner one day!
I hope you get 100k subs soon, that would be a nice milestone to see
What a great bond with Casper.
Great commentary and alligator attraction. Subbed
Great video! You are awesome and have really interesting stories
Casper playing with a leaf is the CUTEST damn thing.
Very interesting facts.... But, fascinating, Casper behaves like a aquatic dog. Beautiful.
Casper is the cutest 👻🤍🐊
Love how Casper knows his name.
i might be wrong but at 17:15 right after the slap he goes under the water and kinda does the swinging "search" thing to look for what caused the splash. if true that was a cool example of it
Great info! What makes you think Casper won't attack you eventually? Man, he is a wild animal and can turn at any moment.
The swimming away under water advice unfortunately not from you probably saved my life when I was very young... Large gator snack sized basically. Thanks for spreading the word with a dose of healthy fear.
Casper seems happy enough you being in there.. he's just chillin;'
People like to think we are skilled but majority of us are riding on luck
I love watching your videos!! I've never been so interested in gators as i do now. Thank you 😊
I’ll hang out with you and Casper right from my living room.
Excellent information and the honesty is very, very necessary. Too many watch some Hollywood movie or the Dodo or have this cuddly idea about wild animals...always learn about the animals you might be encountering (if one must...your advice is the best, however if one is camping for eg and might encounter bears, skunks etc).
My question is about kayaking/canoeing - I'm not even near FL but are those activities safe in waters where there could potentially be alligators? I've seen videos of that and have wondered if the size of the kayak or canoe would frighten the gators or at least signal that is not prey.
Wow it's amazing.. you have an understanding with them, but the least little thing goes wrong it's ready to rip you up and it wouldn't care or miss you in the slightest. Look what happened to Siegfried & Roy!
What do you suggest Chris if you tip a kayak with gators in the area? Getting back into the kayak will obviously cause a lot of surface splashing and cause the situation you described that should be avoided (ringing the dinner bell).
OMG .. I never thought I would say this about an alligator but Casper and you are so good together and here comes those words..👉🏽 Casper is super adorable. 🥰😍🥰 Chris, I appreciate your honesty and the education and hopefully when I’m in Florida, I’ll get the chance to do your tour. Keep up the good work and please continue with the videos, they are very informative and I love seeing you interact with your Alligator family-friends… 😎 When I see you, I see the same passion as Steve Irwin of whom I loved every thing he stood for. 😎
Omg casper is just too cute. He melts my ❤.
Love how much i learn from your videos
Thank you for sharing.
Very curious,
1) what makes it safe to swim at your pool with the alligators ?
And
2) how do you know certainly that the alligators won’t attack you in any given moment ?
Cheers.
I swim with wild alligators and they try to kill me, so Casper is welcome to try whatever he can, I’ll handle it. It’s safe for guests because they’re behind the safety fence
@@GatorChris_bro respond to the guy above me that its not true you can get a law suit against you
Freaking Great tour. We plan to do it again. Loved it.
Thank you!!
Casper: Ahh i should go help him, he needs assistance 😂😂😂😂😂
I've met chris before he's a great guy.
Thanks !
Great information, thanks! I like to kayak in the FL springs. Scuba and snorkel Eg. Rainbow river. Kayak Silver Springs, Scube Ginny Springs. Have kayaked right over a gator a few feet under me. (Didn’t see him until nearly on top. Any cautions here? Thanks.
I was kayaking the spring run at Alexander Springs (very remote and wild). It was May and I was thinking what would I do if a female defending a nest came after me? I have seen an absolutely huge gator up ahead while paddling a creek in NE FL. I let him go on about his business before I passed where he was. And I paddled quite a bit faster.😮
Was surfing in Costa Rica and a Caiman, I think is the species, not an expert in identification of croc/gator etc, but she, felt like a girl, popped up about 10 - 15 feet away as I was paddling, I stopped paddling, we looked at each other, I was extremely calm, after a few moments I just paddled away, no issue. But I was certainly vulnerable, and I think Caiman is a relatively mellow species…???
Thank you for taking Time to give great advice
So. Much. Humor. This was really informative and interesting to watch. Thank you!
The water in your pond is so crystal clear! Is it hard to keep it that clean? Is this a real pond or is it man made?
Love the honesty here
Thanks for this great advice!
Absolutely awesome videos!!!!
Casper seems to like you, at least in the sense that an animal that might suddenly decide to eat you can. I’ve been fascinated by animal psychology, intelligence, and behavior, particularly in relation to their interactions with humans. I feel like crocodilians are generally viewed as simplistic and primitive, but they’re unique among non-avian reptiles in raising their young and they seem to have a greater degree of intelligence and trainability, especially American alligators, than you’d expect. I have no illusions that you could ever totally let your guard down around these guys, but it’s a great illustration of how fascinating they are.
You can say to people not too do things but..... People are sometimes ( most of the time) stubborn ( dumm ) and do things even they know its dangerous. Look at traffic, the law say 60 miles on that road and no turning around on the road what do a lot of people..... They go 70 75 miles and they do turn around with a lot of death or hurt on that road. I am Dutch and my English is not the best but i hope you understand what i mean to say. I love this channel and Chris & Gabby do great work with animals and give them the love they need. Greetings from the Netherlands.
In Ranger school you have to make swamp water crossings at Elgin AFB, Florida, also in Aviation SERE school at Ft. Rucker, AL where alligators are present. I’ve always wondered what to do if an alligator approached. Some folks have said to swim underwater, but that just goes against all human instincts.
Thanks for this video it is very informative. I had a nightmare about floating in a river directly into an alligator some other factors that may help you survive is the number of alligators and obviously the size of the alligator. Now I have to get counseling about what the nightmare meant.
Greetings, I was wondering if gators ever attack people from below or if they only come at people on the surface of the water. I’d be interested to see a video about this and similar things.
Great advice! Surprised though you didn’t address the most common rumor at least that you should hold it’s mouth shut so it can’t bite you
Great stuff. Another lovely and fascinating video, cheers 🙂
That peacock in the background sounds like a woman being attacked by an alligator. I love Casper. He’s adorable.❤
Chris , if you don’t mind. I just want to ask you how do you dive in wild water with crocs inside . I saw you diving with them and you seem to not have problem at all.
I’ve watched many of your videos and I’ve got a serious question, is Casper just waiting to bite you at all times? And how do you know how to avoid him snapping at you? It would be awesome if you made a video in regards to how you constantly stay out of snapping territory please, regards Letisha 💕 from Australia, a very curious person
Lol Casper is just the most chill one the other gators definitely do snap at Chris and that’s why he does most of his videos with Casper he’s said it and showed the other gators which aren’t as tame as Casper especially the girl I forget her name lol
It's Casper's instinct to bite at what triggers his many sensors along his snout. Hence why he bit the splash earlier in the video. If Casper ever bites it'll definitely be from confusion or some other accident.
this was pretty informative. Ngl, I sense adhd rants from this lol. I am glad that you really put out there that this isn't something cool to do, and is in fact very foolish to think you can just handle a huge apex predator like this. The fact that you basically are realistic and say yeah this creature will kill you if you attempt anything like this, I think that's great. A lot of people really do foolish things cuz they think they got it handled. I like the demonstrations too where you merely slap your hand down in the water and there's an immediate reaction. Like despite how chill he seems in there with you, he's still very much an instinctive animal. (though I gotta say I think it's pretty funny that he's just around in there lookin all tired and sleepy and swimming around. Makes him look super lazy gator like eh just living my best life.) I think the examples given here really do show the danger in a safe way, because even if they're trained and or known you all their life, they're just gonna have their instinctive reactions that you can't just get rid of because they know you, at least not entirely. A lot of people see videos with big reptiles like this and think omgosh I want an alligator, without realising what it really takes and what they're truly capable of. So truly, I'm so glad that you're out there informing people, especially informing them that they probably gonna die. As weird as that sounds lol. I do hope it deters people from wishing to pursue those desires, not just for their sake, but for the sake of the animal too.
Though curious specifically about what you mention with a high pain tolerance. I remember seeing this video about this guy who took a frying pan to gator, maybe it was a croc idk. Idk what your experience is, but curious about your thoughts about what if you did something like that on land and had to go in thigh or waist deep water? Would that even work? Is a frying pan just scaring them away, or would it really hurt them? I'm curious to know lol, not that I think it's a good idea however, just makes me curious since you see some pretty crazy stories out there sometimes.
Casper is sooo freaking cute !!!
Fascinating channel! Thanks for the vids :)
Yes, I worked at a theme park that had nile crocs, and they fed them from a bridge. Once while guests were present, a big pelican was on the bridge and jumped off, and those crocs were ON it....end of the pelican, and not a nice show for the members of the public to see. The crocs were habituated to be fed from the bridge. This is not something that normal folks would think about when they're having fun interacting with nature by feeding gators. That little boy that got eaten by a gator at another theme park was in an area where gators were habituated to the presence of humans, so they weren't afraid of them. That's why there were signs everywhere warning people, but everyone thinks those signs don't apply to them, until it's too late. Thanks for your wonderful educational videos, Chris!