saw 4 today here at the ranch, only got to shoot one tho.

mr. moccasin is out in force with all this rain lately.

far ne fannin county, 1.5 mi. south of the red river

Targeting Carp, eh? Come into the Roughfish section! There's also a large contingent of us on Facebook.

+1

Never seen one in North Texas but they are here. Better just be careful.

Go to youtube and type in North Texas alligator and you can see lots of videos of Gators on North Texas lakes.

Don't be like this wild pig that gets eaten by a gator:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzFR2I3TKyk

If it were up to me ( and its not) I'd exterminate the gators.

I would agree.

I grew up in Cameron, La., which has a large population of gators. We used to canoe through the canals all the time and their curious nature never led them to follow us or bother us.

When we came upon them while walking on the levees we would simply throw dirt clods at them until they went back into the water, and we would proceed on.

The scariest part was when we used to go frog gigging at night. We would cross the small channels with our head lights. You would look to your right and see several sets of eyes and look to your left and see several set of eyes. But they never chased us or paid much attention to us.

By the way, snake eyes look like frog eyes in the reflection of a head lamp. I learned it was much safer to use a gig than catch them with your hands

My advice would be to pay close attention to your surroundings. If you can spot a snake you won't have much of an issue spotting an alligator or alligator nest. And if you catch a fish and it is attracting an alligator then just cut the line and paddle away quickly

As someone who has killed an alligator on a TPWD hunt, I'd like to put in a kind word on their behalf. Gators are lovely animals and not particularly aggressive. They won't try to eat anything which they don't think they can fit in their mouth (unlike a crocodile). Out of millions of people who have lived in the state of Texas, only one has managed to get killed by a gator. And consensus is he was dumb. Don't be dumb, and you'll be fine.

I grew up in Louisiana and spent much of my youth in the swamps. No need to worry about alligators. They generally will not let you get close to them, and believe me--as a kid I tried! Water moccasins and fire ants are the biggest concern. Alligators will run from you, water moccasins will stand their ground (or worse) and fire ants are in cahoots with the devil himself. I have yet to see a water moccasins in Texas (plenty of copperheads), have only seen alligators on Toledo Bend, and fire ants are everywhere. Do be careful if you have a dog or small child. Depending on the size ratio of alligator to dog/child, the alligator may see a potential food source. The child/dog won't see the alligator until it's too late, keep them away from the water's edge. The below image was taken on Toledo Bend with a decent zoom lens.

Aside from all the “Alligator BS” they are way more common in all Texas than ever before. That said: still count yourself blessed if you actually get lucky enough to sight one.

Best of luck to you out here. You are coming to a better place. Welcome.

Learn your snakes especially Cooperheads and cotton mouths.

Fire ants are no joke. They float yup like a buoy.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vo9dNyNB9xM

But your biggest threat is drunk boater and A Holes on jet skis.

I went to Hawkins 3 weeks ago. Signs are out warning about snakes and gators. Did not see a one. However, the novice jet skier almost ran us down. Later he flipped the ski,
killed the engine and took 40 minute swim until his buddies could rescue him. Yeah for Karma.

Welcome to the Forum Harloki

Sometimes they even get in small private ponds. I guess he/she couldn’t read my posted sign !

He catches on quick, this one!

They have always been around but we just never mess with them and they don't mess with us.

We had to leave an area of Lake Livingston once in our flat bottom because an 8' specimen took a liking to us and wouldn't leave us alone.