Reedy Creek firefighters were advised to not feed alligators prior to fatal attack

I think it's kind of stupid to even imply a dotted-line relationship between the attack and this. They do stop just short of talking about the wider problem of stupid tourists feeding animals in general. Epcot in particular has a lot of signs about not feeding critters, especially birds, but people do it anyway then wonder why they're all up in your grill when you're gnawing on that turkey leg. While eating, Diana had a squirrel jump on her lap looking for noms a few months ago, and I've never seen a wild animal be that bold.

The liability with Disney probably lies in the face that they were aware of alligators on the property and that they were being fed. But they hadbeaches at most of their resorts that invited one to walk right up to the water, with no warning signs of possible alligators and nothing restricting people from getting too close to the water. Many people would assume "do not swim" means because there are no lifeguards or the water is not clean enough for swimming.

I believe most lawsuits are bogus. For example-a fence, even a split rail fence, means "do not cross." If someone crosses a fence and gets injured, that should be on the person who crossed the fence. Not a park, etc for not making their boundary idiotproof. This one though had some liability IMO.

im honestly sick and tired about hear about this. It's such an overblown topic that just needs to die. One kid got killed by a gator? Alright, how about the hundreds that die each day due to sickness and car crashes? Why should one death to a child mean more than another one based on where they are?

Just my 2 cents

I think you've got that all wrong.

Jeff I can relate to that story. I was sightseeing in DC about a decade ago and stopped in the park between the Lincoln and Washington monuments and sat down to eat some popcorn that I bought at a vendor along the way. About 2 or 3 minutes after I sat down, a couple squirrels started coming in my direction. One didn't stop at all, and crawled right up my pant leg and sat on my thigh, waiting for me to feed it. I did, and then got yelled at by the woman at the popcorn booth. She said it was illegal to feed the squirrels, so I stopped. I got up from the bench and the squirrels followed me for about 200 feet, and then gave up. I had never seen a squirrel be so bold before, but the woman told me that it was because people kept feeding them.

At least the squirrel didn't try to eat me when I got up. I'm guessing an alligator might go differently.

It still makes me sad to think the pain that the family is going through.

Go Intamin, I think the issue is important because of how the kid was killed. Sure, people die everyday, but children don't die everyday because of gator attacks.

It happening at Disney is interesting because the family was on vacation. Disney is supposed to be care free and happy. No one worries about their child losing their life at Disney World.

SVLFever said:

crawled right up my pant leg and sat on my thigh

In my initial reading, I envisioned the squirrel inside the pants.

I was a teenager riding my bike to the mall to go school clothes shopping. I rode down a hill near a park called Baker Mansion in Altoona, and a younger teenage boy was screaming at me. "Get them out! Get them out!"

I slammed my breaks and stopped right in front of him. He was wearing baggy shorts, a Misfits t-shirt, and was standing spread eagle. The poor kid was almost in tears. He asked, "Will you please help me?"

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Squirrels! -In my pants!" he replied.

I couldn't help but to laugh at the poor kid. I reached my hand up the leg of his shorts, with his permission, and pulled out two adorable baby squirrels. I put them down on the ground, expecting them to run away. The squirrels had other ideas. They chased us a pretty great distance as we walked away, trying to climb up my pants and his leg. He got on the back of my bike and I peddled us out of there.

It was both traumatic and hilarious. We ended up hanging out at the mall together that day, and became pretty good friends until he moved away a few years later. I can't even remember his name now, sadly.

^ you can't even remember his name? Man, what a lost Kause you are

LOL...thanks Gonch for that. S to the I to the M to the P!

"It is also illegal to put squirrels down your pants for the purpose of gambling."

Odds are two to one the squirrel finds a nut.