Angry Aberdeen seals

[santaman2000]

Hmm... Snopes says 'probably not' or at most some isolated incidents on Réunion Island.

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/sharkbait.asp

AFAIK neither sharks not 'gators have the intellect to have a favoured food list, if it moves, they'll eat it. Unless they're not hungry of course.

Cain't comment on snopes. But experience says it happens.

Perhaps "favored" food is a bit of a strech for gators. They will attack and eat anything in the right size range and proximatey to the water or it's edge. When humans are around that usually means dogs and/or children. While attacks on humans have been rare while I've been here (statewide) the number of dogs killed by them has been aroound 3-6 per year (and that's just locally) There's one particular gator up on Ft. Rucker's rec area that always comes out to follow us (he stays just in the water swimming parallel to where we walk) watching the dogs when we have them. If the dogs aren't present he stays well offshore and ignores us.

Arrests for using puppies as bait are frequent enough that the local animal shelters and Florida Fish And Wildlfe Conservation Commission post warnings against giving away pups. And apparently sharks DO indeed have "favored" foods. It's believed (ironically) that seals are on that list. That's apparently why attacks on surfers have increased since the shift to shorter boards. The belief is that the sharks look up and mistake the short board on the surface as a seal. Once they bite into in (and/or the surfer) and discover the mistake they release it. For that matter it would appear that most attacks on swimmers are some form of mistaken identity as they rarely ever eat them either. Usually it's bite and release.

 

[Adze]

Understandable but erroneous re the sharks I'm afraid... there is a difference between favouring something and a trigger which causes an automatic strike/bite reflex. The reason for the bite and release of surf boards is the feed trigger isn't tripped, as a board (even with person attached) doesn't behave as a seal once bitten. The shark doesn't reason 'Whoah!! sorry dude, thought you were someone else!'. In addition, most sharks don't eat seal, the vast majority of species are piscivorous, but lacking other ways of experiencing their environment do mouth things investigatively.

Try as I might, using Google I can't find a single reference to an arrest made for using puppies as bait in FL - if it were as common as I read you as suggesting then there would be plenty, surely? Certainly there are lots of sites 'exploding the myth' and several more which repeat the original 'apparently people are doing this we must stop it in FL' but no news outlet carries an arrest story that I could see. I would be grateful if you could point me in the direction of a trustworthy source.

Of the two, shark and 'gator, the 'gator has the greater capacity to reason but compared with your dog it's in first grade and your dog is just finishing it's Phd.

 

[santaman2000]

....In addition, most sharks don't eat seal, the vast majority of species are piscivorous......

Apparently they do off the California coast.

 

[santaman2000]

....Try as I might, using Google I can't find a single reference to an arrest made for using puppies as bait in FL - if it were as common as I read you as suggesting then there would be plenty, surely? Certainly there are lots of sites 'exploding the myth' and several more which repeat the original 'apparently people are doing this we must stop it in FL' but no news outlet carries an arrest story that I could see. I would be grateful if you could point me in the direction of a trustworthy source......

I already stated my references:
1. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (this is the law enforcement agency that actually makes the arrests)
2. Local animal shelters.

 

[santaman2000]

....Of the two, shark and 'gator, the 'gator has the greater capacity to reason but compared with your dog it's in first grade and your dog is just finishing it's Phd.

I don't suppose either species reasons. That doesn't really change the description of their behavior. They behave the way they behave; reason or instinct is irrelevant.

 

[Adze]

I already stated my references:
1. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (this is the law enforcement agency that actually makes the arrests)

http://myfwc.com/news

Do you mean this one? They have a news releases section, which I have searched with a variety of keywords including but not restricted to: puppy, puppies, illegal shark fishing, puppy +arrest, puppies +arrest, sadly to no avail with regards to documented arrests for using puppies for shark bait. There are, however, documented arrests for other felony Cruelty to Animals charges. Am I searching the wrong site?

2. Local animal shelters.

That's not a trustworthy news source. I once visited a pet shop and animal sanctuary in Kent when I lived there and the place was, quite literally, wallpapered with Peta posters, an organisation known for disinformation. It definitely qualified as a 'local animal shelter'.

 

[Geoff Dann]

I was taught as a child; "Seals and Swans...........beautiful to look at, but unless you are hunting, keep - well - back."

Swans I have more in the way of personal experience with, and I think they've got a bit of an unfair reputation. I have been seriously hissed at only once by a swan, and that was because it had three goslings with it. They were sitting on a canal towpath, and I had to get past them. That was a little bit hairy, but it was the one and only time it has ever happened. In my experience most swans view humans as potential sources of free handout food. I've even had a full grown male swan get out of the water and waddle right up to me and beg for food.

Geese, on the other hand...they will go for you. Very bad manners.

 

[mousey]

You have to be careful of your fingers when feeding swans, although they don't have sharp teeth, they can still give you a good 'beaking'

 

[Harvestman]

I got hissed at by a swan the other day, but that was because I had found Great Diving Beetle out of water, crawling along a path. I was following it and almost collided with the swan which had been minding its own business sitting preening. I was so focussed on the beetle I didn't see the enormous bird in my way!

 

[santaman2000]

http://myfwc.com/news

Do you mean this one? They have a news releases section, which I have searched with a variety of keywords including but not restricted to: puppy, puppies, illegal shark fishing, puppy +arrest, puppies +arrest, sadly to no avail with regards to documented arrests for using puppies for shark bait. There are, however, documented arrests for other felony Cruelty to Animals charges. Am I searching the wrong site?.....

That's their website. I don't know of any news rteleases per se. What I know is through personal contact with the individual officers.

 

[HillBill]

Agreed , I had to show one the hairy side ( back hander) down the local park. It came up being all aggressive and grabbed my coat, so it got a slap. It fell in the water upside down and did a very good back stroke for a few seconds before righting itself. Quite comical really. Never had probs with swans.

Geese, on the other hand...they will go for you. Very bad manners.

 

[santaman2000]

....That's not a trustworthy news source. I once visited a pet shop and animal sanctuary in Kent when I lived there and the place was, quite literally, wallpapered with Peta posters, an organisation known for disinformation. It definitely qualified as a 'local animal shelter'.

Agreed. Private shelters are often voiciferous puppets of PETA. I'm referring to the officil shelters ran by the county's Animal Control Division. They are NOT in any way part of any humane society. Their main job is collecting stray animals and euthanizing them if not claimed or adopted after a set period.

I'm not arguing that the practice is widespread; rather I agree that it is extremely rare. But rare or not, it is a real danger.