onecoyote, I've read at least 20 stories of gators gnawing on people this year. In fact, the news just showed a guy in a hospital bed just got ate. He managed to get away but he has the tooth marks to show for it on his leg.
Gators were the one reason I hated training while in the miltary in FL and parts of MS and GA. I remember this one PJ that was with us one time describing some swamp patrols up near Eglin when a small gator nicked an artery on a Army Ranger. The PJ said it was all they could do to save the guy. After that they had to almost push me into those swampy waters.
The movie JAws didn't help my diving much either.
