Alligators
By Harmon Everett

I keep seeing comments on social media about people being scared of kayaking around alligators. They are terrified, and don’t want to be anywhere near alligators. There is a TV ad showing a couple that are being threatened by an alligator. There are probably more people scared of alligators in Texas, than scared of sharks.

I’m not saying there is nothing to be scared of, but this fear is extremely misplaced. Since 1836, the year the Mexicans attacked the Alamo, there has been ONE recorded fatal attack by alligators in Texas.

There are about half a million alligators in Texas, and you can find them in practically every waterway in the state. And occasionally, they wander into people’s yards and neighborhoods. The members of the Houston Canoe Club regularly paddle areas with dozens, if not hundreds, of alligators, with no incidents.

Well, there was one incident a couple of years ago, but that is when a member came across an alligator just laying on top of the water, and went up and poked it with his paddle to see if it was dead.

It wasn’t dead.

Note to self: Don’t poke an alligator to see if it is dead.

The last recorded alligator death in Texas occurred in 2015, when a 28 year old male mocked and teased an alligator, and, wanting to show off, jumped into the water “in close proximity” to the alligator, who immediately attacked him, dragged him underwater, and bit him across the chest, causing his death.

One swimmer was attacked, but not killed, while swimming near a boat ramp where fishermen cleaned their catches and threw the offal back in the water, so the local alligators associated people with food.

Before that, the other known alligator deaths were in 1836, and before that, in 1685.
.

1685.

Seriously, alligators in Texas are pretty chill.

The remains of a woman were discovered in an alligator’s mouth in Clear Lake in 2024, but it was unclear if the woman had been dead before the alligator found her.

The state with the most alligators, Louisiana, has not ever recorded a death by alligator. Not Ever.
Florida, which has more alligators than Texas, records a couple of fatal alligator attacks every year, most of them are senior citizens walking their dogs in their retirement communities.

A Texas woman was attacked while kayaking when she was in Florida last year, but Florida is a different story. For some reason, many folks in Florida, either senior citizens, or tourists to Florida, actually feed alligators, and alligators become accustomed to associating people with food. Also, it seems that this particular attack occurred during spring mating season, when alligators become much more aggressive.

So, all-in-all, alligators might look really scary, and can be deadly, but are usually mostly harmless, and if you take a couple of precautions, like DON’T POKE THE ALLIGATOR, you will be perfectly safe while kayaking or canoeing in Texas waters, even when surrounded by hundreds of alligators.

Joe Coker With His Friend

Stay safe out there!

See You On The Water!

Harmon