What Animal...

I'm not fond of snakes. They are not very affectionate. An alligator on the other hand, if raised from birth can be a pretty friendly pet. I had a friend that had one for about 12 years and Sammy was a lot like having a dog around. He would crawl up in your lap and cuddle up. When he went to Military School he took Sammy with him but the commandant went for a dip one morning and Sammy got playful with him. My friend had to send Sammy home where he lived in the water trap pond on the golf course in his parent's back yard. They would feed him a couple of times a week and everyone knew that Sammy was cool and not a problem. He was treated as just an added bit of fun to that water trap.
 
I'm not fond of snakes. They are not very affectionate. An alligator on the other hand, if raised from birth can be a pretty friendly pet. I had a friend that had one for about 12 years and Sammy was a lot like having a dog around. He would crawl up in your lap and cuddle up. When he went to Military School he took Sammy with him but the commandant went for a dip one morning and Sammy got playful with him. My friend had to send Sammy home where he lived in the water trap pond on the golf course in his parent's back yard. They would feed him a couple of times a week and everyone knew that Sammy was cool and not a problem. He was treated as just an added bit of fun to that water trap.
Wow, I would have never thought they had that capability!! I always thought of reptiles as just reacting on instincts alone.
 
Wow, I would have never thought they had that capability!! I always thought of reptiles as just reacting on instincts alone.
I believe every living creature has it's own personality, even insects. I used to work in a plant nursery, the owners were nature lovers and had resident black snakes. Some were laid back and you could work around them, others were very aggressive and best avoided. The problem was they all looked alike, lol. Black snakes are bad but not usually lethal, they prey on the deadly Eastern browns which is why the owners encouraged them around.
 
Even after Sammy grew up my friend could go out to that water trap and Sammy would come out of the water and to him. I suspect that almost any animal if raised almost from birth as almost a part of a human family will develop an affinity to those that represent food and protection to them. The American alligator is nothing like the crocodile in temperament. I have swum with alligators all of my life and day or night they will come and look at you but not one time have I ever had one be aggressive towards me. I've had one swim up behind me and slap me on the butt with their tail a couple of times when I was either wade fishing or frog gigging at night. I've had to push them aside a time or two to get to something but they always just move over and at most hiss at me a little bit.

Where people get in trouble with them is you NEVER feed a wild alligator. they are not really very smart and if you make a habit of feeding them they will begin to associate the human shape with food and might bite you wanting to be fed. In general, people are not at all on the menu of a regular healthy alligator unless some idiot teaches them otherwise.
 
Even after Sammy grew up my friend could go out to that water trap and Sammy would come out of the water and to him. I suspect that almost any animal if raised almost from birth as almost a part of a human family will develop an affinity to those that represent food and protection to them. The American alligator is nothing like the crocodile in temperament. I have swum with alligators all of my life and day or night they will come and look at you but not one time have I ever had one be aggressive towards me. I've had one swim up behind me and slap me on the butt with their tail a couple of times when I was either wade fishing or frog gigging at night. I've had to push them aside a time or two to get to something but they always just move over and at most hiss at me a little bit.

Where people get in trouble with them is you NEVER feed a wild alligator. they are not really very smart and if you make a habit of feeding them they will begin to associate the human shape with food and might bite you wanting to be fed. In general, people are not at all on the menu of a regular healthy alligator unless some idiot teaches them otherwise.
I have always thought of alligators as very dangerous. You have given me a diff perspective however I don’t think I would swim with one lol.
 
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