Gator grabs 2 year old at Grand Floridian?

[lockedoutlogic]

Have you ever killed an ant in your kitchen and then put ant poison down? Every use a rat trap? Kill a mole in your yard? Killed a spider on the ceiling? If yes then you're being a bit hypocritical here.

Just because they are bigger animals doesn't mean when they threaten human lives we shouldn't try and control them in populated areas. I wonder what you think of the kangaroo culling they do in Australia because of their exploding population, or the killing of deer for sport in the north because when left unchecked their numbers reek havoc on forest vegetation and make roadways unsafe.

In the end I think we can all agree this is a tragedy all around. I see validity in both sides: hindsight is 20/20 and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

These alligators have not been a problem for 45 years...

And I don't compare this to culling for population control.

And since you decided to go there...I never kill a mole...or a spider...and let ants be as much as possible.

It's not my place to be the executioner.

And I'm not even an animal lover...I'm
An animal "tolerator" who see people for what they are...

In this case...an invasive species.

They built the thing on the swamp. I'm not blaming the people...I feel
Bad for what happened...it's just awful...

But...extermination to "preserve the magic" is vanity run amok.

 

[dlavender]

Disney does in fact trap and remove gators from property pretty routinely. Obviously this gator wasn't spotted before the attack happened. And at night the gator is going to blend in and not be seen in the darkness.

This is the key point that places fault with Disney.

They had intimate knowledge of the problem, yet, did not take any additional steps to warn guests. A no swimming sign will not hold up while you are pulling 5-10 gators out of your pond daily.

Game over.

 

[cruisingtwins]

Let's see.....fence off the lagoon....get rid of all the beaches....kill all the gators in Orlando....wouldn't expect anything less from the fine citizens of America and Canada. Reminds me of the episode of The Simpsons where a comet almost struck Springfield, and afterward the enraged townsfolk shouted "let's go burn down the observatory so this will never happen again!" Hopefully rational minds prevail this time, but in 21st century America, I highly doubt it.

Yeah we should just do nothing and give the family who watched their 2 year old get dragged into the water by an alligator a million or two to shut them up.

 

[myminnieme]

I have always been slightly confused why they would design so many open beach areas with water you cannot swim in. Or walk in, whatever. It was a bad idea to begin with. I'm sure some imagineers could have come up with an immersive design that didn't include a real beach setting not intended for actual beach activity use. I was at CBR in April and you can see the beach areas with hammocks near the water, but it never appealed to me to relax in that setting. The water doesn't look clean even. Bad idea from the get-go.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I just saw a report that there have been 26 alligator related deaths in the last 26 years and no major incidents on disney property. This isn't a common occurrence.

Absolutely...

Which means this is an emotional overreaction and not the time for wildlife management policy to be written.

Let it calm down a little. Now is the time for "interim controls"

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I have always been slightly confused why they would design so many open beach areas with water you cannot swim in. Or walk in, whatever. It was a bad idea to begin with. I'm sure some imagineers could have come up with an immersive design that didn't include a real beach setting not intended for actual beach activity use. I was at CBR in April and you can see the beach areas with hammocks near the water, but it never appealed to me to relax in that setting. The water doesn't look clean even. Bad idea from the get-go.

Those places were designed in a different time...primarily by the WWI, WWII generations.

Things would be different now. But that is part of history.

 

[Accident]

Sure Disney could have and maybe should have done more but alligators have never been a problem before in Disney. Disney routinely traps and removes gators when spotted.

something that bugged me last night was I really hope this didn't happen because of pest control cutbacks...

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Yeah we should just do nothing and give the family who watched their 2 year old get dragged into the water by an alligator a million or two to shut them up.

That is NOT...a fair characterization of the posters stance.

And you know it...come on

 

[LSLS]

Obvious you don't live in Northern Quebec, Ontario or Manitoba where it happens every year. Also I didn't say to go around all over killing blindly. In fact I said within WDW property, and I said kill or RELOCATE. Alligators can and do pose a threat.

Relocation is not permitted.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

something that bugged me last night was I really hope this didn't happen because of pest control cutbacks...

That crossed my mind almost immediately

 

[lockedoutlogic]

People have been bringing up jet skis. I can't say I've ever seen single person jet skis out on the water and don't even know if they have them available. Disney does have two person sea raycers that are similar to a jet ski but more like a small boat. I really don't think Disney rents out single person jet skis. They might have in the past but haven't for a few years at least.

If they still have them at contemporary...they are tuned down so the can't go more than 30/35 and have stabilizers that make them impossible to tip/submerge.

You go in...you do it by choice

 

[mshanson3121]

These alligat

But...extermination to "preserve the magic" is vanity run amok.

I think most of us see it as to protect the people.

Absolutely...

Which means this is an emotional overreaction and not the time for wildlife management policy to be written.

Let it calm down a little. Now is the time for "interim controls"

Most of us are saying Disney needs to be more proactive about public education and awareness. That's not an over reaction. It's fact. If they had been proactive that way, that boy might still be alive today. Unfortunately we'll never know.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Relocation is not permitted.

Not entirely true...it's based on size. They do relocate animals of a certain size.

I bet that policy is "on the table"
Right about now.

 

[mshanson3121]

Relocation is not permitted.

Unfortunate.

 

[rteetz]

If they still have them at contemporary...they are tuned down so the can't go more than 30/35 and have stabilizers that make them impossible to tip/submerge.

You go in...you do it by choice

Yep. I really don't think they have the single person jets skis anymore though. The two person sea raycers are the thing most people rent out.

 

[rteetz]

If they still have them at contemporary...they are tuned down so the can't go more than 30/35 and have stabilizers that make them impossible to tip/submerge.

You go in...you do it by choice

Yep. I really don't think they have the single person jets skis anymore though. The two person sea raycers are the thing most people rent out.

 

[Madteaparty001]

These alligators have not been a problem for 45 years...

And I don't compare this to culling for population control.

And since you decided to go there...I never kill a mole...or a spider...and let ants be as much as possible.

It's not my place to be the executioner.

And I'm not even an animal lover...I'm
An animal "tolerator" who see people for what they are...

In this case...an invasive species.

They built the thing on the swamp. I'm not blaming the people...I feel
Bad for what happened...it's just awful...

But...extermination to "preserve the magic" is vanity run amok.

Unless you're living in a hut and surviving off of the land and contributing to the circle of life I'm finding your stance a bit ridiculous. No one is calling for extermination of the species, they are calling for the removal of a proven threat to human life in a contained area. Once a gator kills a human I think it's safe to assume it will think nothing of doing it again.

 

[ChipnDale79]

Disney created beaches that gave access to people to a lake with alligators that could eat your children and not even put proper warnings. Yes they are to blame.

So how many millions of people have visited WDW since 1971, and how many gator attacks have we had?

Do we hold cities responsible that have man made beaches when sharks attack them?

 

[angelmav]

Let's see.....fence off the lagoon....get rid of all the beaches....kill all the gators in Orlando....wouldn't expect anything less from the fine citizens of America and Canada. Reminds me of the episode of The Simpsons where a comet almost struck Springfield, and afterward the enraged townsfolk shouted "let's go burn down the observatory so this will never happen again!" Hopefully rational minds prevail this time, but in 21st century America, I highly doubt it.

Where do you see this? Mighty wide brush you are painting with. What an idiotic thing to post.

 

[si-am]

I have always been slightly confused why they would design so many open beach areas with water you cannot swim in. Or walk in, whatever. It was a bad idea to begin with. I'm sure some imagineers could have come up with an immersive design that didn't include a real beach setting not intended for actual beach activity use. I was at CBR in April and you can see the beach areas with hammocks near the water, but it never appealed to me to relax in that setting. The water doesn't look clean even. Bad idea from the get-go.

Because you used to be able to swim in the lake back in the day-- I remember doing it as a kid. They had parts of the lake roped off as swimming areas and those beaches were pretty popular. (Even River Country was part of that same lake system!)