There aint no Gators in wheeler wildlife refuge :)
Check out this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=ANfLKAqQHy8
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There aint no Gators in wheeler wildlife refuge :)
Check out this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=ANfLKAqQHy8
heavy dude for a kayak.
That's the first video I have ever seen of the gators in there...and that one was BIG. What creek are they in?
Most Gators are in the Blackwell run swamp area, some gators are in limestone creek too but not many.Gators have been seen on the main river a around Decatur.Weiss lake has a few also.
I go to Blackwell Swamp occasionally but have never seen any and that video definitely didn't look like it was from there. I was thinking in the video it looked like they were off of Limestone Creek somewhere.
Not sure where there fishing on wheeler. Here is another video from there
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG93vk_faCU
and another one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ7GvybXs_Q
I've seen two large gators in Blackwell swamp, and one small one in the slough under I-65 on the North side of the river. Best guess for the video is Flint Creek. I've been told there are several in that area, but I don't fish that creek much and haven't seen them. I've fished about every inch of Beaverdam, Limestone and Piney Creek South of I-565 without seen a gator.
There's also a large gator on Redstone Arsenal with the end of his tail missing. He's been named "Stumpy" and has been there 20 plus years.
I've been stalking the forum for a while but I now have something to contribute! The area that they are fishing is actually a small side pond off Limestone Bay that connects to the main bay by a 6" wide ditch. You would have to have a kayak to get there because you have to go over a 6' berm. From arrowhead landing head off towards Limestone creek. Where you have to turn left to follow the water flow stay straight instead. It used to be the path of Limestone creek but is now stagnant. Go 100 yards farther and the creek is across the berm on the right. I was there a month ago and I remember the spot exactly. It had that nasty haze on the top of the water. It used to be labeled on google maps as "Mooresville alligator habitat" but that appears to have been removed.
I fish that area with the old gravel pits often. Haven't seen a gator, but not surprised there would be one there. Thanks for the update!
I know there are a few gators in Flint Creek
As you know, a fair amount of Wheeler Refuge is on Redstone Arsenal. There are a few huge gators on the arsenal! They have one here that is over 15' and was featured with pictures and an article in the weekly post newspaper, "Redstone Rocket," a few years back.
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Bob D,
That was probably Stumpy. I've been told they (Redstone Arsenal) do a news article every 5 years or so about him. I believe he's around 12 feet, but should be longer (15'?) because of the end of his tail missing.
By the way, I started kayaking in coastal Georgia where I encountered dozens every trip. Gators will grow about a foot a year for the first 6 years, and then slow to only about an inch a year for the remainder of their life. This is the reason why there are so many in the 6 to 8 foot range. The 8 to 9 foot and larger gators are probably from the original reintroduction to this area. I've seen a four foot gator which is proof of at least occasional successful breeding here in Northern Alabama.
As a kid growing up on Flint Creek, we saw them occasionaly. If we ventured upriver from hickory hills we would see them come off bank as we motored upriver, like a tarzan show. I spent every warm day wade fishing, bowfishing, swimming etc. Then started towing little v bottom with Johnson 9.5 with riding lawnmower my dad had welded hitch on, down to makeshift boat ramp we made. This was in the late seventies and eighties. We were always told refuge released them to control beavers with the thinking they would not survive the winters. Don't know if any truth to that last sentence.
The thinking was that the winters would be too cold to allow them to have a successful nest......or so I read in the paper.
Just my 2 cents, but I like having them around. They may be attracted to splashing in the water and come over to investigate, but you have little to fear from them. They mostly eat turtles. I'd worry some about young kids swimming or small dogs in areas where they are, but the average angler even in a small craft like a kayak will have more issues with an aggressive Cottonmouth. :twocents
I agree. I just want to see some for the experience. I am still a little shaken by that video I saw a month or so ago of a huge gator attacking a wild hog. People were baiting the hogs out into the water with marshmallows from a boat and the gator nabbed one! It was intense. I'm sure some of yall have seen it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ditch Basser
Link to a blog on gators in AL:
Gator Tales: Alligators released around Madison, Redstone Arsenal in '70s | AL.com
They nest in Arkansas , so I would think your farther south ?Quote:
Originally Posted by riverboss
Down here. Gator boulette. Yum