Chased by a Gator!

[Bone Daddy]

On 4/24/2020 at 3:32 PM, Harry Pristis said:

Many old time collectors, like me, never worried overly much about the 'gators.  We carried a 'gator stick' -- a baton about 18" long tethered to a wrist with a thin cord lanyard.  I personally used an old police baton made of hardwood.

 

 The idea was when a 'gator bit your upper arm or shoulder (they like to go for your head), you just stick the baton down the 'gator's throat to make it let go.  The baton breaks the watertight seal of the glottis, and the 'gator has to interrupt his business in order to cough up the leaked riverwater.  Works every time!

 

 If the 'gator has hold of your baton arm, you have to be able to break the lanyard to employ the baton with your other hand.  I have always favored keeping my baton arm on the away-side of any aggressive 'gator I can see.  I have always come out on top in every 'gator encounter.

 

If the 'gator has hold of your head and begins a death-roll, keep your arms and legs tight to your body to go with the roll.  Then, working by feel, you can get the baton into the 'gator's throat.  This head-hold is a best case scenario for the 'gator, but a worst case scenario for the collector who may wind up with tooth punctures on the head.  That's why I always wore a miner's hard hat when I used mask and snorkel to survey the bottom.  No scars on my visage!

 

Now, if you think I made up this story, look around you at the next fossil show in Florida.  Do you see any old time collectors who are missing limbs or who have puncture scars on their heads?  No, you won't!  You know that I wouldn't kid you about this.

 

This is that kind of information that is vital to know, but you hope you never have to use it. An abundance of caution and situational awareness will preclude the necessity of fighting a bull gator in hand to hand combat. I wouldn't like my chances, so I give them a wide berth and I am very wary in areas where the water is deeper and darker with poor or no visibility.

 

I also carry a combat style knife with a 6-inch razor sharp blade, but it's lashed to my gear bag and I don't always have it within reach. But, I always have a 6-foot bamboo shaft that I use as a probe when wading and digging. It has a narrow spear-like steel point on it and would make a decent improvised weapon in a pinch. Also within reach (usually) is a Vietnam-era army surplus jungle machete (the extra long variety). I've had to dispatch an aggressive mocassin with that machete, but I pray I never have to resort to using it against a big gator.

 

[PODIGGER]

I also carry a combat style knife in a nylon sheath tied into my fossil pouch.  That and my five foot metal probe should be enough to get me clear of an overly aggressive big one.  I'm just happy to buy time to get away safely.

[RuMert]

I imagine your emotions:) Thats what I call quality fossil hunting

[PODIGGER]

It did get my heart pumping.  I was out of the water on the bank before I realized my shovel and probe were still in the water.