Disney gator attack: 2-year-old boy found dead

[mrclose]

It's not politics but I thought that some here would like to know?

I am feeling pretty low right now.

The 2-year-old boy who witnesses said was pulled by an alligator into a lagoon near a Walt Disney World hotel has been found dead by the Orange County dive team, Sheriff Jerry Demings said at a Wednesday news conference.The body of the boy, Lane Graves, was found intact about 1:45 p.m., not far from where the boy was grabbed Tuesday night, Demings said.
He likely drowned, Demings said.
"Of course, the autopsy has to confirm that, but there is likely no question in my mind that the child was drowned by the alligator," Demings said.
Demings said the body was found in murky water perhaps 10 to 15 yards from where the boy was attacked.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/15/us/alligator-attacks-child-disney-florida/

I was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale.

Had a rockpit behind our home that we use to swim in.

We all knew of the gator that lived there but we also knew that a gator wont usually attack an object (or person) that is larger than a small animal.

We use to dive into the water, even when the gator was lazing on the bank, right next to where we were swimming.

It would either ignore us or swim away.
(Lots of neighbors dogs went missing though)

Disney hires experts to come in and remove what gators may be in the waters.

Gators migrate all the time and it's nearly impossible to deter them.

I've seen gators climb chain link fences to get to a backyard pool.

Heck, though they prefer fresh water, we had a few on Lauderdale beach (salt water) years ago.

[thundley4]

I heard the father tried to grab his son from the gator's jaws.

[mrclose]

 alligator alley fort lauderdale

[Texacon]

This story is one of the saddest things I've heard in a long time. It broke my heart. I live in an area where there are a lot of gators. Raised my kids swimming in the lake and there have been some 14' gators pulled out of this lake. Like mrclose said, they generally don't want anything to do with you, but if they've been fed, watch out!

I cannot imagine the horror that little boy and his parents felt. Breaks my heart.

KC


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[SVPete]

Totally sad! If what I heard is correct, the family was from NE. If they weren't transplants from FL this was probably supposed to be a once every 5 or 10 years big family vacation, not the memories of FL and MouseWorld they hoped for.

[Wayne]

Sad..........

[FunkyZero]

Like everyone else I assume, I've tried to think about "what would I do" if I were that father. Man it makes a guy sick thinking about this happening, and such a freak attack to top it all off. As much as I'd like to think I would have died trying, you aren't taking "food" away from a 4ft gator very easily. I mean, I carry a knife but it's a 2/something inch pocket knife and probably not even time to get that tiny thing out when something like this happens. I can't imagine the lifetime of nightmares this family will endure now, and very little, if anything, could have been done to stop it.

[mrclose]

Like everyone else I assume, I've tried to think about "what would I do" if I were that father. Man it makes a guy sick thinking about this happening, and such a freak attack to top it all off. As much as I'd like to think I would have died trying, you aren't taking "food" away from a 4ft gator very easily. I mean, I carry a knife but it's a 2/something inch pocket knife and probably not even time to get that tiny thing out when something like this happens. I can't imagine the lifetime of nightmares this family will endure now, and very little, if anything, could have been done to stop it.

Concealed carry would have been one solution to the problem!

[BlueStateSaint]

Concealed carry would have been one solution to the problem!

True, as long as the weapon was loaded with hard-cast lead solid or full metal jacket rounds.

[thundley4]

Supposedly they have released the cellphone video of the attack. I saw it linked to on facebook, but didn't click the link.

[FunkyZero]

Geezus I can't imagine who would want to see that...  you can't erase something like that after you've watched it.

[Eupher]

I'm no gator expert, but I suspect that that gator attacked very, very quickly. There could've been little to no reaction time for a knife or even a gun, especially at 9 PM in the dark. They hit their prey and immediately head off to the water to drown it. Since they found the remains relatively intact, I have to think that the gator realized that it had attacked something abnormal and let it go before eating it, but the toddler had drowned anyway.

Yeah, it's sad. Disney is going to take this one in the shorts. The family is grieving their son, who can never be replaced, and the lawyers get richer.

That's the second tragedy.

[Texacon]

I think I read, a long time ago, that gators drown live prey then put it under something to let it rot so they can pull pieces off later. Don't know if that's true, but it makes sense.

KC


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[Linda]

I think I read, a long time ago, that gators drown live prey then put it under something to let it rot so they can pull pieces off later. Don't know if that's true, but it makes sense.

KC

You are right that is exactly what they do with something that is to big to eat in one gulp.

[Eupher]

I think I read, a long time ago, that gators drown live prey then put it under something to let it rot so they can pull pieces off later. Don't know if that's true, but it makes sense.

KC


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I'm glad they got to the little boy's remains quickly.

Can you imagine being a diver and having the task to hunt for a body in a gator-infested pond or lake?