I just moved down to the Pensacola, Fl region this summer and decided to go scout the river for the upcoming deer season. Being a north woods boy in Wisconsin, I have to say the varmint population down here is quite different. I was out for a whole morning on my kayak and getting 10 yards from a gator that was resting in the waters below me just about turned me off from hunting there. Not to mention the 6 water moccasins i saw! Does anyone have any advice with these critters? I dont know how they act, or how to read them or any of that. Any Gator and snake guys out there that could share some advice on close encounters with these reptiles!

Happy swamp life!

Leave them alone and they'll give you the same respect.

X 2 on what Blaino said.  Give 'em a wide berth.  Don't look for snakes and ya won't find 'em!  Spiders always find you.  They like to hunt whwere we like to walk and hunt.  Don't poke NO Gator under your boat!  Don't ask how I know that!
I'm right across the line in Albama, so maybe we can visit sometime.
Johnny/JAG

Walk slow. Pay attention.  Don't mess.with critters that can mess you up.  You'll be fine.

A little different view, we are in there home everytime we head to the woods and you eventually will cross their path.  So avoiding them is not plausible unless you stay indoors on the crouch.

When the encounter happens then give them their room, but you have to be alert at all time, "Situational awareness" is just part of the south  

Move back to WI. fast as you can, or some other Northern state.

QuoteOriginally posted by maxwell:
Move back to WI. fast as you can, or some other Northern state.

That's actually good advice.  This state is basically a banana republic.

You haven't mentioned the meanest critter in the woods.  Wait until you get a mess of chigger/red bug bites and you'll know what I'm saying.  I don't go hunting until after 2 good frosts because of chiggers!!!!

Bill

No doubt Wildman the chiggers are by far the worse thing out there      

Tracker2 I bet you could get some cool pictures on your scouting trip  

What Maxwell said times 10...

Beware of the water moccasins they are very aggressive, they are the only snake I have seen that will chase after you!!! Had one get after me while fishing in a small pond. Gators are very curious critters and may come check you out but, for the most part they will not bother you. Spiders you don't know how many you don't see untill you come out of the woods at night using a flash light you will see 1,000's of tiny green reflective eyes. Good luck

Why would you ever move too Florida?I would
Say get out and fast

Hunting in the south is a lot like wading in salt water.  There are things that can hurt you, and things that can make you hurt yourself.  Spiders aren't really dangerous, they're just big.  A crab crawling up you leg won't hurt you, but if you're not expecting it-wow!!!  Gators are curious and may come check you out.  Look, but leave them alone.  If he wants to be where you are, it's time to leave.  If you see a bunch of little gators in an area, might be a good idea to leave-mama is around somewhere.  Sharks aren't usually after a human, they think they're getting dinner.  If you wade fish, having a stringer of fish may not be the best idea.  After a while, you learn to look for snakes as you walk.  Don't step over logs or stumps-snakes like to lie next to them.  When you wade shuffle your feet, you won't step on a stingray, you'll put you foot under him and he'll swim off.  If you step on a ray or a snake, they WILL try to protect themselves.  How many hunters do you hear of getting snakebit or gator got???  The north has copperheads and timber rattlers, how do you avoid them??

I was born and raised in Florida.  Been too many years since I lived there, I'm forever looking for snakes when I go home.

Must be something good about living in Florida.  People from New York move here by the hundreds every single day...      

As for the topic, gators require a little extra care around their mating season and if you encroach on their nest areas.  Other than that, they will usually do all they can to avoid a conflict with humans.  

The VAST majority of snakes that you see will NOT be moccasins. As with gators, most snakes will seek to avoid a confrontation.  However, moccasins sometimes fail to read the manual and can be more aggressive than other varieties.  Even so, I have yet to hear of a moccasin actually chasing someone down and successfully injecting them with venom.   The bulk of snake bites occur to people who are engaged in some attempt to mess with the snake.  

Snake boots. South Ga and Florida have no shortage of things that bite. Just watch where you step and you'll be ok. Cottonmouths are aggressive but I've never been chased by one. Rattlesnakes and copperheads usually won't bother you unless you step on them.

This guy liked my Thunderchild

X10 on the cottonmouths. They are not afraid of us that's for sure. Had them swim right at me fishing on creek banks more than once. Only snake that makes me uneasy.

I think the mocs are more stubborn than aggressive.  They will sit there and eyeball you all day.  I've never seen one try to get away,but I've also never seen one come at me.  Like gregg said, there are a lot of dark snakes here that aren't mocs.  Mocs have a whte stripe along the side of the head and the head has that viper spade shape.  The best thing to do is just leave all snakes alone.

Just watch your step. If a gator humps it's back up don't get close and remember they all will bite.

Greg/Gringol,

You guys are expert...I was just an interloper, but when I lived in VA and knew folks on the VA/NC border, they had tales. Never caught them in a windy story, so I bought their moc stories, too.

Repeatedly, folks would tell of bass fishing in the spring and a moc would come off a log 50 yards away and try to get into the boat.

NC Gal I knew well told of water skiing on some "canal" near the ocean and having 2 spotters: One looking out a head with a S/S "snakecharmer" .410 for mocs and one watching the skier!

Another less reliable sort told me of berry picking in the brush and stepped on one that nailed his leather boot but didn't penetrate before he killed it.

I encountered a few, but never close and got the devil outa Dodge after their stories!

I'd say it sounded as though they were aggressive or at least VERY territorial!