I'll take snow over this...

[Ira]

76!?

Actually, we're a little cooler than that down here right now. Gonna only have a high of 71 today.

We're FREEZING!!!

[sledge]

Have you seen a Del. Yankee drivin' a new Red Chevy truck pullin a 5th wheel camper down there Ira ????? he will be easy to see...... he should be carrying a Blue Telecaster .......wearling a flower shirt ....... and Most likely Drunk........ He is spending the winter down there with you AGAIN. He played Lead Guitar for me for years.

[Gaelen]

I'd feel for all of you, but this is what my front door and sidewalk looked like last night about 6:30, before and after I shoveled it out.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/gaelen2/alb ... 2390106807

[sledge]

Gosh........ have you ever thought about MOVING..........

[Gaelen]

Sledge...some days its *all* I think about...
but I grew up here, and really, most of the time the weather is good and I'm close to mountains (Adirondacks), lakes, city life *and* country things, the cost of living is okay and I have a job I really love. Of course, it does help that I seem to thrive on unpredicatability and random change...

CNY--six months of winter, two months of monsoons and 4th of July.

[sledge]

Well, if you got a job you like, that alone is worth staying there..... Hard to find a Job you like,

[Laredo]

That hanging gator is from Southeast Texas. That's a TPWD warden, and the green truck with the tailgate down is a '99 Dodge Ram. That pic is one of four that originally ran with the story. I believe they relocated that gator alive, but I am not sure -- TWPD had some folks really upset with them about that same time because a warden dragged a gator down a road behind a truck (gator wouldn't fit in the bed).

[Ira]

Sledge, I'll keep my eyes open for your friend! (Do you know what part of Florida he winters in?)

Do they SEDATE the gator to relocate it? In that photo, his jaws aren't taped shut, yet I don't see any physical signs of injury on him. Here in Florida, I never heard of sedating. All I know is when they hunt them, some guys use an electric prod on their heads and electrocute them to death.

[Chaotica]

These two links should clear this up.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/wcgator.asp

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/gatordeer.asp

[Ira]

Ed, those are cool links and I gotta read it completely now!

But as far as that first shot goes, there's no way that's just a 13-foot gator, and there's no way the head would appear larger LENGTHWISE based on camera positon and how it's turned. Plus, whether the warden was close to it or further away, LOOK AT THE PROPORTIONS OF THE TRUCK TO IT.

And the proportions of that damn head just defy explanation.

[Chaotica]

Ira,

It's all about perspective. Myself being a former photographer, it looks like the image was made with a wide angle lens and close to the gator, that would throw the perspective all out of whack and make it look bigger than it really is.

[Laredo]

That gator's head is flopped *toward* the camera, and the lens probably is set to max, but I don't see a fish-eye effect.

However -- that's no 6'5 game warden, either. That is an 8' bed on the truck, though, so that should give you some perspective.

The big Ford pickup is a longwide also, so the bed on it is 8 feet.