What if those are not alligators but rather - tam, tam, tam! - members of the Bush family flooded out of their Houston lair!

They'll make people-sized floating, swimming islands.

The snakes go batshit crazy, too, but that's not even the scary part. There are four types of poisonous snake in North America, and Brazoria County, next to Houston, is the only place where all four live.

Of course those things are only of concern if you live through the rain, flooding, winds, and tornadoes.

(Hang on, folks. This storm will pass, too!)

Gator gotchyer Granny. Chomp!

It's Hurri-Gator!

who hunt near even large puddles. As long as they can drown their prey, they'll eat.

Snakes are also going to be invading anything on high ground that's dry as their burrows flood.

This is going to be a mess of biblical proportions.

Poor buggers.

Poor doggies! I hope people have made plans to take care of their pets.

They finally learned their lesson about that during and after Katrina. A lot of people didn't evacuate because they couldn't bring their furkids along.

I know one guy who died because he evacuated and couldn't stand the idea of his cats facing the flooding alone. He died when he went back for them.

I would never leave my dogs to fend for themselves.

People will probably take care of their own pets, but those poor strays are probably on their own. I hope some kind souls help them out.

Gators are pretty easy to spot and they'll run from you. They also don't typically eat on land.

But baby, cottonmouths and moccasins will abound. Take it from a Camille veteran and one who knows far too many Katrina veterans.

Mother f'ing hubcaps.

in my yard this summer. The first one was 32 inches long but the last one was a whopping 45 fucking inches long. I can't leave them when I find one in my yard, sorry

I'm telling you this OLD man can move pretty DAMN quick when I see one of the cotton mouths in my yard too.

Harmless and good at pest control. Leave the poor guys alone.

Harmless unless you're a mouse or rat. Very beneficial creatures. I have one as a pet

My last one needed an operation because he somehow contrived to prolapse his own penis (hemipenes in snake lingo.) Even in obvious discomfort he was docile and eminently manageable.

My baby boy is a totally mellow snake. I love him.

Btw I didn't mean a gator won't kill on land. They really prefer to eat in the water though, probably because they have advantages over just about everything else.

I probably wouldn't, but I could understand people who would want to. In the face of that on my front porch.

They're damn near armored. There are vulnerable spots but you have to be good. Honestly on land you're likely fine if you just stay clear and call animal control. In the aftermath of a hurricane of course all bets are off.

I don't think throwing those chunks of firewood at a gator would make him go away. Unless the homeowner was trying to play "fetch".

I could end up being part of the food chain.

lakes and canals.

I hope they were OK though.

That was great! Thanks!

Watching salmon return to spawning grounds is inspiring. They persist until they reach home. When I was a teenager I went to a spawning ground to watch. They were stacked up nearly atop each other in the shallow area of the river. It was deep in the woods so the only sound was their splashing and the birds.

Shouldn't be any serious flooding though. We'll see.

The salmon watching sounds wonderful.

Thanks!

Broke a record from the fifties for least measurable rain, then when we finally had some it was barely a drizzle.

It should be OK. I know people need rain, but I'd trade for a dry spell. It's been a very wet summer already.

We recently had new gutters put in out back and that has helped a lot but not enough it seems.

The weather person said tonight the worst for our area was yet to come - tomorrow and then over the next 24 hours.

If I get any gators or snakes, I'll snap a few photos. (as long as it can be done safely)

Better to go fishing or head to the Rez for some genuine alder smoked salmon.

That trip literally kills them so they're not what you'd call healthy and happy.

Always.

Same when I lived in Florida years ago. Flood waters meant gators and snakes on the street.

Same in southwest Georgia when I was there. It flooded, out came the gators and snakes.

Come to think of it, I've spent a lot of my life around gators and snakes.

Love the photos. That top photo shows a gator that has been snout banded before. He's been caught, counted, then released.

Nothing like getting into a floating fire ant colony to know what pain is.

they suck

When I see gators, I'll investigate from a safe distance.

I get out of the way of cottonmouths, as well. That's the snake I see the most right after a flood.

That should tell people about how bad fire ants are after a flood.

I'd rather run up on an alligator than to land in a floating pile of fire ants - which I treat as just as deadly as a poisonous snake. (because people can die from fire ant stings)

I've had my feet and lower legs bitten by fire ants. Lots of bites. Lots of those ugly bumps - - those icky white pustules. Painful isn't a strong enough word for how it feels.

I know people can die from alligator attacks but they're bigger, easier to see, making them easier to avoid.

You have to actively look at that pile of debris floating by to see if it's crawling.

Rats were a different story though.

Turns out rats are pretty good swimmers.

Sandy forced many out from underground onto the NYC surface where it's a virtual rat paradise.

Think Pizza Rat, Bagel Rat, Hot Dog Rat.

The rodents have been living it up feasting on garbage.

A good friend is in pest control and half of his business is keeping rats at bay from some very tony addresses in Manhattan.

larger predators. The fire ants will attack and kill them too. As will the snakes. So, never many and never for long. Except around New Orleans. They have rat problems after a flood.

But you don't really want gators and such around either.

Rats are very intelligent but I don't want to see bunches of them out and about either. I can't imagine how bad it was for larger cities. Yikes! That sounds like a lot of rats.





This is a Nutria Rat and its young.



We have lots of them here. As well as regular old rats.

I had to be down by Water Street about 8 months after the storm. It was shortly after nightfall and the garbage from businesses was piled on the sidewalk. There were rats as big as cats strolling down the street sampling the local delicacies. Hubs and I walked down the middle of the street. More recently, around Christmas we were strolling in Central Park at dusk and came upon a rat confab. You have never seen two middle-aged NYers run in a more undignified manner!

And that is a horribly creepy thought.

Radioactive alligators!

But the worse in a flood are the fire ants!

Wade in the water and they are all over you in a heartbeat.

and heard Katrina horror stories. Heck, any nasty flood. My sister got into a nest once and she was lucky she was only made miserable.

So would the snakes and gators. I think I would have a harder time with that than the wind and storm surge. Ugh!

Lots of vicious, hateful Republicans. They may even bite or sting. Is there an anti-venom?

Water Moccasins. Evil, aggressive, poisons and for some odd reason, enamored of me. I have been chased by them more times than I can count.

We have wooded lakefront property. The back of our lot has damn water moccasins. Was down there helping clean brush out one day when my friend yelled at me, STOP, look up. Not five feet in front of me was one of those damn things hanging in the tree and I was seconds from walking right into him. He was BIG too.

I never go down there anymore.

Unless you feed them.

a small yappy dog on a leash.

Or an annoying small niece or nephew. That smells like raw chicken. And is yappy.

you are feeding them.

and deep snow in the winter and I'd take all of that any day instead of gators, snakes and fire ants. Oh hell no.

Me too.

"displaced" for weeks, and many of them will stay wherever they end up. Small freshwater pond nearby? New home for the gator.

Been through this all my life on the coast of SC.

And if people are right on the beach, they have even less to worry about. Gators will flee saltwater areas fast.

I'd shit down both legs if an alligator was under it like in that last picture

Looking forward to the orange shartcannon getting his head bit off in the movie.