If you’ve been reading a few of my articles, you may have put together that I’m a down home Florida boy. I’ve always loved certain aspects of my state. But, there’s a few risks with living here. Mosquitoes are gonna be your biggest threat in all honesty, but a close number two is the gators. It’s not often you hear about an alligator attack, but they do happen. That’s why today I’ll be telling you your best chances of surviving it if comes down to that.

Tip One: Avoid an Attack

This will always be your best chance at surviving an encounter with an alligator: don’t.

Learn Where They Live and Avoid Them

My biggest rule of thumb is if you’re in Florida, don’t go into any fresh water that you can’t see straight to the bottom. In fact, avoiding lakes in general is a good bet. But other than that, a few things you can do include:

Taking warning signs seriously. If you see a sign that says “no swimming, alligators live here” you need to heed it. But don’t take this to mean that unmarked areas are safe.

Also, just because you live around them for a while, don’t get too familiar. Just because you’ve seen them around doesn’t mean you’re an expert who can predict their behavior. I personally think these are the easiest apex predators in the world to avoid. Respect their space and they will respect yours.

If you do go around water, exercise extreme caution

If you hear about an alligator attack, you’ll almost certainly hear about it being in or around water. So, if you have to go into the water for one reason or another, be sure to exercise about twice the amount of caution you think you’d need. Gators usually live in and around slow moving water with a lot of mud and vegetation. They love swamps, but can also be found in lakes, ponds, rivers, and any other man made source of water.

And don’t think you’re safe on the bank, either. Alligators are ambush predators, and can be out of the water with their teeth on you before you know it.

Do not let your animals near the water

A lot of people, for some reason, actually let their animals near water they wouldn’t approach themselves. Gators are attracted to the sound and movement of small animals, so an alligator attack involving dogs isn’t an uncommon occurrence in Florida. Just stay on the safe side and keep Fido close and away from the water’s edge.

Tip Two: Don’t Feed The Gators

Alligators aren’t like dogs or cats. When you feed one of these guys, they don’t think “Oh, this person brings me food.” These are ancient predators that are perfectly evolved for what they do, when you feed them all they learn is that people = food. They begin to associate you with feeding times, which means you may end up on the menu. And don’t think feeding small ones is okay, either. If you feed a two foot long alligator, it will eventually become a ten foot long alligator.

Tip Three: Run, and in a Straight Line

Humans can outrun gators. Sure, an alligator can burst for a few feet with reasonable speed, but it’s not what they’re built for. And usually, if a gator is chasing you on land it isn’t with the intent to eat, just to force you out of it’s territory. And when you run, make sure you run away in a straight line. The zig zag myth will only keep you closer to the gator for longer. Just book it, and eventually the alligator will break off the chase rather than attack.

Tip Four: Fight

Alligators are perfectly evolved creatures made of armor, muscle, and teeth. They have everything a big predator needs for grabbing things that don’t want to be grabbed. But, they still are aware of risk reward. Most gators are pretty timid, but if you find yourself grabbed by the odd gator, don’t go down quietly. If you are involved in an alligator attack, kicking, screaming, yelling,stabbing and gouging at the eyes are all viable.


And do your best to stay on land or above water. The alligator is more than likely going to try and pull you under and then begin a death roll. They do this with the intent to take a piece of you off and start eating you, after they’ve drowned you of course.

Conclusion

Generally, most alligators try to avoid people. “Alligator incidents involving people are fairly uncommon and it’s usually a case of mistaken identity,” Jim Darlington, curator of reptiles at St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida, told CBS News. “If someone is splashing in cloudy water the animals can’t see what’s disturbing the water so sometimes they bite first and ask questions later.”

And as I said earlier, respect their space, and they will more than likely respect yours.