Stupid question about Florida

[WX Man]

OK, I've briefed myself on important things like aeroplanes, airports, connections & transfers, accomodation etc etc BUT....

I will end up walking from the greyhound bus station to the cheap motel in Naples at about 1:00am during the last week of August. Do I need to worry about running into any alligators???!!! (or nutters, for that matter).

[2close]

Near St.Petersburg, FL, there is a motel called The Banyan Tree Motel which has a very picturesque man-made lake behind it - nice big Banyan tree (hence name of motel) with park benches and nice lawned banks - and into which flow drainage pipes. All very innocent looking.....until you read the signs that say 'Please do not feed the alligators!'

I jest you not. The local reptilians use the drainage pipes as their subway system to visit the lake and have a kip on the banks. Saying that, there were no instances of anybody ever having been attacked or even severely spoken to by said alligators but I still subtracted alligator watching off my list of things to do.

As for nutters, have a word with some of the locals, I'm sure they'll advise you on places that it's OK to visit and others to avoid like the plague - it always worked for me.

[ZINIDINE]

i have a friend who had his arm bitten off the day after he aced his cpl skill test .............. hope you have better luck

[Pinga]

i have a friend who had his arm bitten off the day after he aced his cpl skill test
I've heard that some of those people who run flight schools over in Florida are a bit hungry at times!:}

WX, Naples is a lot nicer than say Winterhaven. Can even be described as quite a select upmarket place even.

Best wishes and good luck.

[G SXTY]

Probably an equally stupid question, but can your budget stretch to a taxi fare? The last thing I'd want to do after a 15 hour journey is to hump all my luggage from the bus station to a motel - whatever time of day it was.

By the way, the average age in Naples is about 85, so you're probably quite safe at 1am - they'll all have had their cocoa and gone to bed hours ago.

Never saw any gators in downtown Naples, but there were a couple in the undershoot at Marco Island last time I was there. :uhoh: (We landed long . . .)

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

WX Man,

The greyhound bus stop is down Davis Bld is my memory serves me correctly, I remember crusing past it on my bike a few times. Now the Wellsley Inn is usually the hotel that NAC send their students on arrival, and that hotel is located at the end of Davis.

Now, how much luggage will you have? Are you taking everything but the kitchen sink or travelling light? It is walkable, but not with 10 suitcases. It maybe well worth asking NAC to arrange a Taxi to meet you at the bus stop.

As G SXTY says, there are not many nutters around, only OAP's. The only Aligators you are likely to encounter are when flying into Marco Island, they like to lie on the runway when you are practicing your touch and go's.

Have a good time.

[spitfire747]

stopped beside the main road (Us41) to take a look at the view of the everglades... this little blighter was only 7ft LONG and less than 10ft away..

he can run at upto 35MPH for about 50 yards..... quite cute really (WHICH I MIGHT LIKE TO ADD I DID NOT KNOW AT THE TIME...)

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/michael.thompson23/fl/11.JPG

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/michael.thompson23/fl/12.JPG

[NACGS]

Geez...

As Steve Irwin would say " Your a bloody :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: mate".... that close to a gator, sure its not a croc but still....

Saw one about that size trying to cross the road in front of me on the way home to Marco Island after work last week. It came out of the Wachovia bank parking lot and ran back the same way.. so make sure to avoid the ATM at the Wachovia bank on US 41 and Route 951 in the dark at night !

PS this is not anywhere near the Greyhound bus station in Naples, neither is spittys gator above...

AND Did he purr when you patted him Spitty??

[spitfire747]

well i stopped beside this fishing lake on the way back to Naples and saw this guy on the grass beside the road, he moved so slowly and looked quite gentle.... had i known that he could have moved so fast i would not have stood there taking a photo.. NO WAY

about a week later i watched a ranger catch a gator that strayed near a swimming pool, it was smaller than this one and it took this experienced guy at least an hour to capture it.. boy did it put up a fight...

luckily photos are memories of a lucky escape

Spitt:ouch:

[CAT3C AUTOLAND]

Spit you are a nut case, always thought that about guys from Havant :D.

[spitfire747]

CAT3C

That really hurts

[mattd2k]

Spitfire,
I currently have a 6' Gator living in the culvert outside of my apartment! Unfortunately I haven’t managed to get as good a photo of it as you have though, the gator only appears to want to stick his head out of the drainage pipe. Maybe I’ll pop down later and give him a prod of encouragement with a big stick!! ;)

WX Man,
The only other thing I can warn you about is to look out for Tortoise’s (not Turtles as all yanks insist on calling them!) on the runways and taxyways! I don’t know about Naples, but in Fort Pierce on several occasions now I have had to stop to let them cross, I’ve even had to go-around once because one decided to cross as I was over the numbers! :uhoh:

Hope you enjoy flying in Florida, I am! :cool:

MD2K

[spitfire747]

Hey you should go gator fising.. get some meat on a piece of string and drag it along the grass to intice the gator out, then jump on his back, roll around like an Australian Lunatic, tie his feet up and job done..

prodding him with a big stick might just pi** him off a little...

honestly though if he is that close to your living area.. he is dangerous and should be captured... i believe they do it for free in FL as they then make their money from the gator meat, leather etc..

<<edit: Hey, the gator is the Florida resident. The guy in the apartment is the visitor. Do you really suggest simply slaughtering the gator just because HE/SHE is in YOUR way??>>