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Gators, Chaos & Florida Man: Only in the Sunshine State
5 Plays10 months ago
In this episode, we dive headfirst into the wild, weird, and totally unhinged world of Florida Man—from bizarre headlines to jaw-dropping gator encounters. Why does Florida have the craziest stories? What’s up with people wrestling alligators? We’re talking about the most ridiculous, hilarious, and downright unbelievable tales from the Sunshine State. Buckle up—this one’s a rollercoaster!
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Transcript
Intro
Hosts' Weekly Recap
00:00:30
Victoria Ouellette
Welcome back.
00:00:34
Shelley
Happy Hump
00:00:36
Victoria Ouellette
You in that hump day.
00:00:38
Heather
Wednesday.
00:00:39
Victoria Ouellette
Yep. um How was your guys this week?
00:00:43
Shelley
It was really good. My birthday was just this past Friday. So we celebrated that. But the big party's on Saturday. So we're getting geared up for that. So it should be a really good time.
00:00:54
Shelley
I can't wait to see everybody.
00:00:55
Victoria Ouellette
Yep. So we'll all be together then, huh?
00:00:56
Shelley
Yeah.
00:00:58
Shelley
Yeah.
00:01:00
Victoria Ouellette
so We should take some pictures for sure.
00:01:02
Shelley
Yeah, we should.
00:01:03
Heather
Yeah, we'll get some posted on social medias and all those fun things. My weekend was good. me and um ah for my kids Me and four of the kids went to see Mean Girls the musical.
00:01:18
Heather
And it was a lot of fun.
00:01:18
Victoria Ouellette
one
00:01:20
Heather
um
00:01:20
Shelley
o I like the movie.
00:01:22
Heather
yeah They all did too. like I mean, we bought the tickets probably like a year ago, probably. It's been a long time. So we've all been looking forward to to seeing it so it was fun and yeah to spend i got to spend time with all the girls so it was it was nice.
00:01:38
Victoria Ouellette
That's always good. Awesome.
00:01:41
Shelley
What about you?
00:01:41
Victoria Ouellette
All right. Well, I didn't do anything this week, so
00:01:47
Victoria Ouellette
I feel like although I feel like I've been really busy, so I'm perfectly happy to just chill. Yeah.
00:01:54
Heather
Yeah, that's how we get sometimes.
00:01:56
Victoria Ouellette
Yeah. And I know, you know, Shelly's party coming up next weekend, so I'll be busy again.
00:02:03
Shelley
This weekend. This weekend. Don't forget. Don't come next weekend.
00:02:06
Victoria Ouellette
um
00:02:06
Shelley
it's going to be here.
00:02:08
Victoria Ouellette
Next weekend, this coming weekend, whatever.
00:02:10
Shelley
Yes.
Introduction to Florida Man Stories
00:02:11
Shelley
ah
00:02:12
Victoria Ouellette
um So today, since we all live in Florida, we thought it would be fun and funny and maybe give people outside of Florida ah taste of Florida and go into some Florida men stories.
00:02:30
Shelley
Ooh, they're always crazy.
00:02:33
Heather
Yeah, you know, everybody always looks at Florida as like crazy, crazy people.
00:02:33
Victoria Ouellette
Yeah.
00:02:37
Heather
know that even... i know that but
00:02:41
Victoria Ouellette
The Florida man.
00:02:42
Heather
even Even a lot of the things that Florida has and does, there's a lot of people that will comment like outside of states and be like, oh, well, this state has that. This state has that. This state has that. So I just wanted to mention like us talking about Florida Man does not take away what your state has or what you guys do there.
00:03:00
Heather
Crazy things you may have there. We're just we're talking in regards to Florida Man because that's where we live and it's funny and it's fun and it's there's literally all kinds of stories and stuff to it.
00:03:09
Victoria Ouellette
What?
00:03:10
Heather
So.
00:03:10
Victoria Ouellette
And it's a big joke, you know, ah like we also take it as a joke.
00:03:11
Heather
Yeah. Yeah.
00:03:15
Heather
Yeah, so I just wanted to start by saying that, like, I'm not, I'm not, not discrediting any other state.
00:03:16
Victoria Ouellette
So we're not proud of it.
00:03:20
Shelley
ah
00:03:24
Heather
That's all I mean. Okay.
00:03:26
Shelley
Ooh.
00:03:28
Heather
So um I was just going to start with, I think that we should all do the Florida man quote unquote game. I don't, I i don't really want to call it a game, but that's kind of what everybody calls it.
00:03:39
Heather
so um it's where you google if you go to google and you type in florida man and your birthday so just the day the month and the day and then you would read the story that you come up with so if you guys want to do that and share your story you can um i'll start with mine because i figured i would have to give you guys time to you know find a story
00:03:55
Shelley
o Okay.
00:04:02
Victoria Ouellette
Also, my birthday is the same day as hers.
00:04:02
Heather
um
00:04:04
Victoria Ouellette
so
00:04:05
Heather
So yeah, we could just use the same story if you want. That's up to you. um Mine, and this just happened last year. um it says, Florida man bites a a bar manager's finger over an incident about ah a dog leading to a brawl.
00:04:20
Shelley
Oh my gosh.
00:04:21
Victoria Ouellette
Wow. It's got so many details.
00:04:24
Heather
Which happened in St. Pete. What
00:04:27
Victoria Ouellette
Of course it did.
00:04:30
Heather
about yours, Shelly?
00:04:33
Shelley
Oh, you want me to read the story? Because I have a whole story.
00:04:35
Heather
um
00:04:35
Victoria Ouellette
Well, just a headline.
00:04:36
Heather
I mean, and I I would say the headline and if we have questions.
00:04:37
Shelley
It's not... Oh, there's no headline. There was no headline for mine.
00:04:42
Heather
um Well, then what was it? Just give us a...
00:04:43
Shelley
Okay, well, okay, so it's about, um so March 28th, and it happened last year. i don't know exactly where in Florida, but apparently the guy, and they even name his name and his age or whatever, he got drunk, and he decided, he saw a gator, and he decided it would be a good idea to try and ride the gator.
00:05:06
Heather
course he did. We're in Florida.
00:05:09
Victoria Ouellette
What else you see when you see a gator?
00:05:09
Shelley
so The gator was not having it.
00:05:11
Victoria Ouellette
don't get it.
00:05:12
Shelley
The gator's like, nope, not having it. So apparently he ended up getting arrested and at his court hearing, ah he tried to justify his behavior saying he just wanted to have some fun. He wasn't going to harm the animal.
00:05:27
Shelley
But ah he did get community service and in a wildlife rehab center so that he can learn and respect and appreciate local wildlife.
00:05:40
Shelley
and having learned his lesson he never will ride gator again apparently he says having learned the lesson jerry never tried to ride the gator again but yeah he's probably out there right now trying to ride it yeah the gator different gator yeah so that's about it
00:05:41
Heather
Can you imagine?
00:05:46
Victoria Ouellette
Did he say that? Because that doesn't mean I believe him.
00:05:53
Victoria Ouellette
The gator. He didn't try to ride that same gator. That's what it sounds like.
00:06:00
Heather
Oh, that's funny.
00:06:00
Victoria Ouellette
He left that gator alone.
00:06:03
Heather
Okay.
Florida Man Games: A Humorous Event?
00:06:05
Heather
um I think the other thing that I was going to start talking about in regards to Florida man, which I'm not, honestly, I don't know. I'm sure there's a lot of Floridians. I don't even know about this, but outside of Florida, I doubt, I doubt many people know about it.
00:06:18
Heather
So um just because the whole Florida man is so popular and kind of this big running joke now, nowadays they, we have an annual Florida man games that happens every year.
00:06:18
Victoria Ouellette
Thank you.
00:06:32
Shelley
Oh, really?
00:06:32
Heather
And so, yeah, it happens.
00:06:33
Shelley
i didn't know that.
00:06:35
Heather
um I think it's in February. I know this year it was in February. um There's a lot of, like, TikTokers that I do follow that do Florida man stuff or just do Florida stuff in general that, like, actually went to the the um to the games and talked about how fun it was and how crazy it was.
00:06:51
Victoria Ouellette
What kind of games do they do?
00:06:52
Heather
But...
00:06:53
Victoria Ouellette
it say?
00:06:54
Heather
um yeah they list all these games that they do and it's kind of funny um they do like they well it says the list here says evading arrest obstacle courses um florida sumo cage match um weaponized pool noodle mud duel
00:07:05
Victoria Ouellette
Wow.
00:07:15
Shelley
oh god oh oh yeah
00:07:15
Victoria Ouellette
There
00:07:17
Heather
um hurricane prep party grocery aisle brawl
00:07:20
Victoria Ouellette
you go. Oh, yeah, there you go.
00:07:24
Heather
It says that they pit teams together in order to snag supplies in a st simulated supermarket, melee.
00:07:32
Victoria Ouellette
Wow.
00:07:32
Shelley
oh wow that'd be funny and toilet paper
00:07:32
Victoria Ouellette
Might
00:07:33
Heather
So they have to wrestle over, like, cases of water and stuff like that.
00:07:39
Heather
um They have a gator throw, which it does mention that they're presumably fake gators, so...
00:07:40
Victoria Ouellette
as well train up.
00:07:46
Victoria Ouellette
Fake, right? Okay, good.
00:07:47
Heather
Yeah.
00:07:48
Shelley
oh
00:07:48
Victoria Ouellette
I was about to ask that.
00:07:51
Heather
Um...
00:07:52
Victoria Ouellette
Don't hurt the bad.
00:07:53
Heather
They do a state of emergency fight night pro wrestling. I don't exactly know what that meant. Obviously, I didn't go to the show, but a lot of people that I've seen talk about it look like they had fun.
00:08:01
Shelley
So where where is it? Did they say where it's at?
00:08:05
Heather
um Yeah, it does. It says it's in I read it and I can't remember now. um Oh, it's towards St. Augustine.
00:08:15
Shelley
Oh, OK.
00:08:16
Heather
ah It hit took... Yeah, it's the West Historic St. Augustine. So, yeah. So, it's up north a little bit, but
00:08:24
Shelley
You should try and go next year.
00:08:24
Heather
Um, yeah.
00:08:26
Victoria Ouellette
North Florida.
00:08:29
Heather
Um, I actually have like the official website pulled up too, just because I wanted to make sure. Oh, they have to eat the, eat the butt challenge. I don't know what that, oh, they have to eat pork butt platters.
00:08:40
Heather
Who can eat it the fastest?
00:08:43
Heather
Um, of course, beer chug, human beer pong.
00:08:43
Shelley
weird.
00:08:47
Heather
That's funny.
00:08:48
Victoria Ouellette
Of
00:08:49
Heather
They have a ninja course out there. they have a mechanical gator, of course.
00:08:54
Shelley
Oh, yeah.
00:08:54
Victoria Ouellette
course.
00:08:56
Heather
um i don't know just it was literally it looks like it's just a literally a weekend festival full of crazy florida florida game things so which i thought was kind of funny um yeah
00:09:03
Victoria Ouellette
and stuff
00:09:08
Victoria Ouellette
That is funny. I didn't know that.
00:09:11
Shelley
Yeah, i didn't know that either.
00:09:13
Heather
Yeah, I don't, I can't, honestly, I can't say I'm the type of person that would ever go to one just because I've never been that type of person to do things like that. But it would be fun to go see, I guess, in person.
00:09:25
Shelley
Yeah.
00:09:25
Heather
But I still don't think I'd want to go. don't want to see it that bad.
00:09:28
Shelley
but
00:09:28
Heather
but I don't think I'd want to see it that bad.
00:09:30
Shelley
Maybe if we're in the area.
00:09:31
Heather
Yeah,
00:09:32
Shelley
Maybe we we're like camping or something.
00:09:35
Heather
yeah but I'm sure you have to pay to get in. And I mean, not that I have a problem paying.
00:09:38
Shelley
don't
00:09:38
Heather
I just, it's not my type of thing. but even though I'm a born and raised 40 and I don't, it's just not my type of thing.
Absurd Florida Crime Stories
00:09:48
Heather
Um, I think that, so i picked a few stories, a few Florida man stories. Um, actually one of them's a Florida woman, to be honest. Um, um but i think it would be fun if i were to i guess kind of have you guys guess what maybe certain parts of the story or what happens so um my first one my first one it says woman murdered roommate and what and she did something to prevent the police from getting dna so what do you think she did to prevent this the police from getting her dna
00:10:07
Shelley
Okay.
00:10:08
Victoria Ouellette
Oh, yeah.
00:10:22
Victoria Ouellette
After she what? What'd she do?
00:10:24
Heather
Murder her roommate?
00:10:25
Victoria Ouellette
my gosh.
00:10:27
Heather
Yeah.
00:10:27
Shelley
Did she pee everywhere?
00:10:28
Victoria Ouellette
Extreme here.
00:10:29
Shelley
Did she pee everywhere?
00:10:32
Heather
No, she didn't.
00:10:34
Victoria Ouellette
I would say she...
00:10:34
Heather
She did.
00:10:38
Victoria Ouellette
um know burn
00:10:42
Victoria Ouellette
I don't know. Oh my gosh.
00:10:44
Heather
Actually, she she poured Mountain Dew all over herself to attempt to destroy the evidence in the DNA.
00:10:44
Shelley
Yeah, burn the headphones.
00:10:49
Heather
Okay.
00:10:49
Victoria Ouellette
Oh wow.
00:10:50
Shelley
What?
00:10:53
Shelley
my god.
00:10:54
Heather
Yeah.
00:10:54
Victoria Ouellette
oh wow
00:10:55
Heather
And it wasn't even like in the house or anything. They found her walking like, I don't remember, it was like 3am, like that same night, they had found her walking around with like a knife in her hand, like the murder weapon in her hand type thing.
00:11:07
Victoria Ouellette
Oh my goodness. She wasn't trying to hide it very well.
00:11:11
Heather
And she asked them she asked them for a Mountain Dew and they gave her one. i I thought it was kind of random because I was cause i was like, they they just had a Mountain Dew to give her, but maybe they were at the police station or something already.
00:11:17
Victoria Ouellette
What?
00:11:22
Heather
It didn't really like explain the details, obviously.
00:11:24
Victoria Ouellette
Right.
00:11:25
Heather
Some of that stuff don't really matter. um But yeah, they gave her one and she was like attempting to act like she was going to drink it and I guess she started just dumping it all over herself. Her hair, her ah weapon, her body.
00:11:35
Victoria Ouellette
wow
00:11:36
Shelley
Oh my gosh.
00:11:37
Heather
She started dumping it all over herself. Yeah.
00:11:39
Victoria Ouellette
How toxic does she think Mountain Dew is? Oh my goodness.
00:11:42
Heather
i know that was funny um obviously she was caught because they found her at 3 a.m um she was taken and yeah um they found her roommate like somebody called it in and they found the roommate that's how they found out it was her um
00:11:52
Victoria Ouellette
With the knife.
00:12:05
Heather
There's not really much more to that story I feel like to talk about. So I feel like like it is what it is. Obviously she's she deserves to be where she's at.
00:12:11
Victoria Ouellette
Yeah.
00:12:11
Heather
so um
00:12:13
Victoria Ouellette
the
00:12:14
Heather
Next story. i think um there was a drunk Florida man.
00:12:21
Shelley
oh
00:12:21
Heather
as most of these stories probably start out with.
00:12:22
Victoria Ouellette
Drunk at Florida.
00:12:26
Heather
um He got into an accident. He hit a pole outside of 7-Eleven because he had just left a party and he was obviously already drunk.
00:12:31
Shelley
God.
00:12:39
Heather
I said that. um He was headed to 7-Eleven to get more alcohol.
00:12:43
Victoria Ouellette
Oh, wow.
00:12:43
Heather
But what how do you think how do you think the police found him when he was in his car?
00:12:43
Victoria Ouellette
At
00:12:43
Shelley
Oh.
00:12:46
Victoria Ouellette
least it wasn't a Papa John's.
00:12:49
Heather
right know.
00:12:50
Shelley
What was the question?
00:12:51
Heather
How do you think the police found him when they found him in his car?
00:12:55
Shelley
Naked.
00:12:57
Heather
Close. They found him with no pants on.
00:13:00
Victoria Ouellette
Oh.
00:13:00
Heather
Still, still, he was still like not even in the parking a lot of the 7-Eleven.
00:13:00
Shelley
Oh!
00:13:04
Heather
He was still, he hit a like ah like a concrete pole and his car was still sitting there.
00:13:10
Shelley
He's just chilling.
00:13:10
Heather
I guess his pants were wet, soaked in the passenger seat beside him. He had no pants on.
00:13:14
Victoria Ouellette
Oh, wow.
00:13:15
Shelley
Oh...
00:13:16
Heather
But he admitted he was just leaving a party. He had already had some drinks and he was going to 7-Eleven to get some more alcohol.
00:13:22
Victoria Ouellette
What's the big deal? Yeah, I don't get It's
00:13:25
Heather
What's your problem?
00:13:26
Shelley
Oh,
00:13:28
Victoria Ouellette
perfectly reasonable. Okay.
00:13:34
Heather
um it turned out that he didn't really have a um license, like ah an American license. like I don't know how the proper way to say that, but um he refused a sobriety test and all that fun stuff.
00:13:48
Heather
um So obviously he got charged with a DUI and not having a driver's license.
00:13:54
Shelley
ah wow
00:13:55
Victoria Ouellette
Of course.
00:13:56
Heather
So... That's that. The next one I picked because I thought it was kind of funny. actually didn't even read the full story. I just thought what I did read in the headline was kind of very Florida-ish.
00:14:13
Heather
I don't know.
00:14:14
Victoria Ouellette
Yeah. ah
00:14:15
Heather
It's just the crazy people you find in Florida. um it says um actually I'm going to start before I even read the headline because the headline gives it away um this guy was in an advanced auto parts for over an hour and they had to call the cops on him because what do you guys think he was doing for over an hour in advanced auto parts
00:14:38
Victoria Ouellette
Oh my goodness.
00:14:38
Shelley
Not safe to say.
00:14:41
Heather
no it is safe to say
00:14:41
Shelley
but Peeing everywhere.
00:14:45
Victoria Ouellette
In an auto parts. that what he said
00:14:49
Heather
Advanced auto parts, yeah.
00:14:50
Victoria Ouellette
Advanced auto parts.
00:14:53
Shelley
like my go-to answer.
00:14:54
Heather
No.
00:14:54
Victoria Ouellette
i Stealing tires.
00:14:56
Heather
Apparently.
00:14:58
Victoria Ouellette
Do they even have tires there actually?
00:15:00
Heather
no I don't think so.
00:15:02
Victoria Ouellette
Stealing oil.
00:15:03
Heather
No. No.
00:15:05
Victoria Ouellette
Just hanging out.
00:15:05
Shelley
Bathing in oil. Dumping oil all over him.
00:15:07
Victoria Ouellette
Oh, taking an oil bath. There you go.
00:15:09
Shelley
Yeah.
00:15:09
Victoria Ouellette
That's in the bathroom in the back. I don't know why they have bathtubs there now, but they do. ah so
00:15:16
Heather
Maybe they were in the sink or something. Who knows? No.
00:15:18
Victoria Ouellette
Oh, yeah, there you go.
00:15:18
Shelley
ah
00:15:19
Victoria Ouellette
Here's the sink or the toilet. He could be in the toilet bathing in oil. There you go.
00:15:24
Heather
um No. Either way, that but is not the answer.
00:15:25
Shelley
Gross.
00:15:27
Victoria Ouellette
so
00:15:28
Heather
He was barking like a dog for more than an hour. And he had they had to call the police so like they could arrest him.
00:15:32
Victoria Ouellette
Wow.
00:15:35
Heather
So he could quit barking like a dog inside of Anzano Bart's.
00:15:35
Shelley
What?
00:15:36
Victoria Ouellette
oh
00:15:39
Shelley
Oh my gosh.
00:15:41
Victoria Ouellette
Oh my goodness.
00:15:42
Shelley
He was definitely on something.
00:15:42
Victoria Ouellette
That's so weird.
00:15:46
Heather
Yeah, I just, i was like, what? that mean I guess not to say that's very Florida-ish, but obviously he was a little crazy. Um, I, oh, I was reading some of it.
00:16:02
Heather
He had a bunch of syringes that he was saying was blood, but it was probably not, I assume.
00:16:06
Shelley
oh
00:16:06
Victoria Ouellette
Oh, wow. Now I'm going to.
00:16:10
Heather
They were confiscated as evidence and he was taken to the to the jail
00:16:17
Heather
oh he had a bunch of drugs on him from reading this he yeah i mean um was gonna say obviously yeah he had a clear baggie of syringes he had clear crystal clear substances
00:16:19
Victoria Ouellette
I was going to say, I think he was really high.
00:16:23
Shelley
Thank you.
00:16:31
Heather
So, um, so these aren't taking as long as I expected them to. Um, I do have another one that I thought, so I'll just read the extra one too at the same time.
00:16:43
Heather
Before I go, I found, so when I was searching all these stories, I found kind of like a positive Florida man story which is you really don't find that often so I'm gonna leave that for last um and I only thought this one was I don't think this one was funny I just it kind of caught my eye because I didn't even realize there was a showgirls club in Tampa called Pink Pony because of that song Pink Pony Club I don't think it's from that obviously I think it came before that because I'm sure this is really old but
00:17:08
Shelley
Oh, yeah.
00:17:15
Heather
um maybe that's where what's her name got the song from him i don't know i have no idea
00:17:20
Shelley
I think her song, I don't know, I think i think it originates from possibly.
00:17:25
Heather
oh yeah i'm sure it does but i maybe maybe this started in la or something i don't know anyways there was there is was a pink pony showgirls um i guess building like club type thing in tampa and this guy
00:17:27
Shelley
Maybe she was there, yeah. I like that song. Yeah.
00:17:41
Heather
I guess had his night all planned and that's where he was going to go and he was going to go and have fun and, you know, maybe get some dances and, you know, all that fun stuff because that's the type of club it is. And, um, when he showed up,
00:17:54
Heather
There was nothing there. Like the building was there. It says the name. It says all that stuff on it. But it was like an empty building. So there wasn't anything there for him to go have fun and do.
00:18:03
Victoria Ouellette
Oh, wow.
00:18:06
Heather
So I guess being the Florida man that he is, but he was extremely upset. What do you guys think he did?
00:18:15
Shelley
He made his own pink pony club.
00:18:19
Victoria Ouellette
He he was so upset. He I don't know. Broken.
00:18:26
Shelley
Painted a pony pink?
00:18:29
Heather
and No, he um he actually um was charged for arson because he burned the building down.
00:18:36
Shelley
Oh! Oh!
00:18:37
Victoria Ouellette
Oh my god.
00:18:37
Heather
But Shelly, your go-to answer, you didn't even pick this time.
00:18:42
Shelley
Oh!
00:18:42
Heather
he peed in a cup of urine and threw it at the police.
00:18:43
Shelley
He's gonna pee everywhere!
00:18:46
Victoria Ouellette
oh He's upset.
00:18:47
Shelley
Oh!
00:18:47
Heather
Yeah.
00:18:49
Shelley
Oh, I was going to say, peed everywhere.
00:18:49
Heather
So I don't know why, obviously, he was... on drugs probably but yeah he was very very upset
00:18:57
Victoria Ouellette
It was empty.
00:18:59
Shelley
Yeah, he wanted to party.
00:18:59
Victoria Ouellette
What else was he to do? he was a Florida man.
00:19:02
Shelley
wanted to dance. That's all he wanted.
00:19:04
Heather
just just wanted to go dance yeah so it said that and I don't even know why just literally I feel like the urine thing kind of threw it was random but that's what it says that he did he was charged for arson he and a few other things because of the the urine and
00:19:23
Heather
Oh, he did that when he was inside the holding area. Sorry, I just realized that.
00:19:27
Shelley
Oh!
00:19:27
Heather
He damaged a camera inside the holding area, urinated an empty bottle, and threw it at an officer.
00:19:28
Victoria Ouellette
Oh my goodness.
00:19:32
Victoria Ouellette
oh
00:19:33
Shelley
Oh god.
00:19:33
Heather
So that was even after he was arrested that he did that.
00:19:37
Victoria Ouellette
He was still very upset.
00:19:37
Shelley
Oh my god.
00:19:38
Victoria Ouellette
Okay. Like.
00:19:39
Shelley
He's like, I'm not getting my dancing tonight. Here.
00:19:43
Heather
Well, now he ain't really getting it. Unless he's getting in jail.
00:19:47
Shelley
now he probably thinks that song is about him. my god.
00:19:53
Heather
um okay so
00:19:54
Victoria Ouellette
Maybe was him that wrote the song. Who who writes the song? I
00:19:59
Heather
maybe okay so we'll move on to my
00:20:02
Shelley
Mm-hmm.
Heroic Florida Rescue: Fact or Fiction?
00:20:05
Heather
my good story and like I said that doesn't really happen very often i just it kind of caught my eye because I was trying to find a story related to like alligators and Florida man and because you know all those go together with Florida so um anyways there was this neighbor I guess they must have lived near water it doesn't really specify exactly where they lived but um he's he said he was walking his dog and um
00:20:20
Victoria Ouellette
Right.
00:20:27
Victoria Ouellette
Well, it's in Florida, so.
00:20:34
Heather
I guess an alligator had came up and charged at him with his mouth open. And so he grabbed the, he grabbed one of the guys, like his whole body, he grabbed like bit him and was dragging him back into the water.
00:20:40
Victoria Ouellette
Oh.
00:20:48
Heather
When one of his neighbors drove by and seen that he was struggling, but they couldn't tell really what was going on with him. And so they, um he I guess they looked back and was like, wait a minute. and He's, that guy's in an alligator, like he's in an alligator's mouth.
00:21:03
Heather
And he just happened to be driving by at the right time, right place.
00:21:04
Shelley
Oh,
00:21:08
Heather
And so back, like put his car in reverse and backed up and ran over the alligator to get the guy out of his mouth, to get the guy out of the alligator's mouth.
00:21:15
Victoria Ouellette
oh wow that's smart
00:21:17
Heather
So he just happened to be driving by when his neighbor got attacked by an alligator and it was, yeah, it would be so scary.
00:21:17
Shelley
oh wow
00:21:24
Victoria Ouellette
that's like actually terrifying though like what would you do if you drove by and seen your neighbor being eaten by an alligator like these are real things that can happen in florida
00:21:29
Heather
I mean, i mean, i
00:21:36
Shelley
Yeah.
00:21:36
Heather
Yeah, like legit. That's why i was like, oh my gosh. Like they, in this story, they made it seem like he was walking his dogs. Yeah, he was walking two dogs down the road and he walked past the pond, his regular route. He does this every day type thing.
00:21:49
Heather
So I'm sure they see alligators every day too. So he probably really didn't think
00:21:53
Shelley
It's dream-aiding season.
00:21:55
Heather
he probably he probably really didn't think much into it to be honest and then it said that the alligator darted at him he was 11 foot the alligator was 11 foot long 11 feet long
00:21:57
Victoria Ouellette
so
00:22:07
Heather
eleven feet long
00:22:07
Shelley
That's crazy. Those alligators are big. Like, you know, we went to Gatorland that one time with you, Victoria.
00:22:13
Victoria Ouellette
Yep.
00:22:14
Shelley
Um, those alligators, especially, I can't remember that big alligator's name.
00:22:20
Victoria Ouellette
Well, they have little tiny baby ones there.
00:22:22
Shelley
Yeah, they have the cute baby ones that you can feed.
00:22:25
Victoria Ouellette
There's also some giant ones, yeah.
00:22:25
Shelley
But, yeah, there's one that they, he's all by himself. I can't remember what they call him. He's huge.
00:22:32
Heather
It said that um he didn't break any bones, didn't tear any ligaments or anything, but he did puncture his femoral artery and that those two neighbors are best friends now.
00:22:36
Shelley
Oh, wow. Wow.
00:22:43
Shelley
Aww.
00:22:43
Victoria Ouellette
Oh, that's kind of cool.
00:22:45
Heather
So.
00:22:46
Shelley
That's good.
00:22:47
Victoria Ouellette
Yeah, he saved his life.
00:22:47
Heather
Yeah.
00:22:48
Shelley
I mean, i remember I remember when we first moved here, i was always told, do not walk by ponds or any type of water.
00:22:55
Heather
ah Walk. That's impossible, Shelley.
00:22:58
Shelley
I know, but hey, I was told. remember the one time Tony and i went ah to NASA, like to the Kennedy Space sensor Center or whatever, and they have a ditch on the side of the road, and there was a lady.
00:23:11
Shelley
That stopped her car on the other side of the road to take a picture of the gator that was in the ditch. I'm like, you are crazy lady. But we just kept driving.
00:23:21
Heather
Oh my gosh.
00:23:21
Shelley
What?
00:23:23
Heather
So when I was a, I was a teenager probably. Oh yeah. No, I was a teenager. We're probably like 15, 15 or 16, maybe, maybe yeah younger. don't know. But um it we lived here in Donnellon and there was um obviously we have um a river right here full of alligators, not very far, you know?
00:23:45
Heather
Um, and I think we were headed back home one point when I was young so I think I was with a boyfriend or something that could drive I don't remember now but there was an alligator um on the side of the road and in one of the little puddles and they stopped to like pick them up and everything I don't remember where we took them probably back to the river or something who knows but yeah so we were those people that were stopping to pick up those that gator wasn't wasn't me though right
00:24:05
Shelley
oh
00:24:09
Shelley
well yeah you were giving him a better home this lady was not giving him a better home she was taking pictures in the middle of a highway no that's definitely what it was because we were like in the touristy area but it's like yeah like by uh cape canaveral there um
00:24:18
Victoria Ouellette
Maybe she lives out of state. Maybe she's really far from home and she's never seen
00:24:27
Victoria Ouellette
gator. Oh, yeah.
00:24:31
Heather
Yeah, I think it surprises people. like They could literally see a gator anywhere.
00:24:35
Victoria Ouellette
Driving down the road.
00:24:36
Shelley
Well, do you remember, Victoria, when we were driving one time when you lived over here and there was, yeah, and there was roadkill and it was a gator.
00:24:40
Victoria Ouellette
Over in your area. Yeah. yeah Yeah.
00:24:45
Shelley
And that's the first time I ever seen one. i was like, oh my God, I was so, yeah, I took a picture.
00:24:49
Victoria Ouellette
I think that was what I told Shelly. was like, yeah, there can be road get a gator road killer in these areas.
00:24:52
Shelley
Yeah, yeah.
00:24:56
Shelley
and then the next time i seen a gator was when uh at cape carnaval when i just told you and like he was just chilling whatever but i remember too a couple years back we were gonna go to the springs when some friends of mine were down and i remember you guys telling me oh yeah like the gators are on the side you just don't mess with them you just go down the spring thing on your little raft I'm like, ah no, they can stay there and I'll stay at the shore because I ain't getting in the water with gators. No way.
00:25:24
Shelley
Be my luck, it would go right into the whatchamacallit, right into them. in their little cozy little pen.
00:25:32
Heather
and What, you'd float right into them or what? What do you mean?
00:25:34
Shelley
would float right, that's just the my luck would be. Yeah.
00:25:37
Heather
But not in a river.
00:25:37
Victoria Ouellette
ah she
00:25:38
Heather
They mostly stay on the sides.
00:25:39
Shelley
I don't know. Mostly.
00:25:42
Victoria Ouellette
Mostly
00:25:42
Heather
I mean, they can come out, but...
00:25:43
Victoria Ouellette
ah
00:25:44
Shelley
Mostly.
00:25:47
Shelley
And you're not supposed to be around. They tell us, well, I don't know if that it was in one of the flyers here where I live, but we have a giant lake where I'm at, and they always tell people like not to go around there during mating season because or have small animals or children around the lake.
00:26:04
Heather
that's your big that's your That's why you're so terrified of mating season, huh?
00:26:08
Victoria Ouellette
mating season, but your apartment area.
00:26:10
Heather
You bring it up so often you have to be terrified of
00:26:12
Victoria Ouellette
Your neighborhood did it.
00:26:14
Shelley
my neighborhood did it mating season yeah if you hear the hiss if you hear the hiss run
00:26:14
Heather
If
00:26:16
Victoria Ouellette
Traumatized you for the remaining season.
00:26:19
Heather
there's any warning, she remembers it's mating season of alligators.
00:26:24
Victoria Ouellette
Yeah, that's the one warning she follows.
00:26:27
Shelley
yep i don't even know when mating season is as far as i what is mating season
00:26:31
Heather
was going to say, maybe you should Google it and find that out so that ah that you know.
00:26:36
Shelley
but but
00:26:36
Heather
Yeah.
00:26:37
Victoria Ouellette
She's so worried about this she doesn't even know when it happens. So she just stays away from the water all year.
00:26:46
Shelley
oh beginning of April.
00:26:49
Victoria Ouellette
better stay.
00:26:49
Shelley
Beginning of April.
00:26:50
Heather
It's coming up soon, Shelly. You better stay in your house.
00:26:53
Victoria Ouellette
If you want to go for a walk around that lake, you better go now.
00:26:54
Shelley
Well, we are in April. We're in April right now.
00:27:00
Shelley
Yeah, we're already the second in April.
00:27:00
Victoria Ouellette
yep.
00:27:02
Shelley
Beginning of April. Oh, no.
00:27:04
Victoria Ouellette
You must your opportunity. No more lake walking.
00:27:07
Shelley
Oh, but it, yeah, no more no more nighttime strolls during ah mating season.
00:27:08
Heather
and more like okay
00:27:14
Heather
just never know and then i'll get it right around the corner good thing you don't have animals it doesn't last long it's a good thing you don't have animals to walk
00:27:14
Victoria Ouellette
oh
00:27:17
Shelley
oh
00:27:18
Victoria Ouellette
when ah When does mating season end?
00:27:21
Shelley
uh may or june yeah
00:27:23
Victoria Ouellette
May or June. Okay. and How do we find out if it's over?
00:27:28
Shelley
well that's what it says so they say courtship begins in early april so they got to find their mates in early april so they're looking around and stuff and mating occurs in may or june
00:27:37
Heather
So they're really looking in April, yeah.
00:27:42
Shelley
So the females build a mound.
00:27:42
Heather
And then you're good after that.
00:27:44
Shelley
They build a mound nest of soil, vegetation, and debris and deposit an average of 32 to 46 eggs in late June or early July.
00:27:52
Victoria Ouellette
so
00:27:55
Heather
Oh my gosh.
00:27:56
Shelley
are you serious?
00:27:58
Heather
We have so many alligators for a reason.
00:27:58
Shelley
Incubation requires. Oh my goodness. Incubation requires approximately 63 to 68 days and hatching occurred mid August. We are not good at all so from April to like September.
00:28:09
Victoria Ouellette
wow how long but long have you lived here and you just realized it
00:28:12
Heather
charlie I have lived here for 37 years and never been ah attacked by an alligator. Can you imagine that?
00:28:20
Shelley
Wow.
00:28:21
Heather
And i would say I would say for a good majority of it, I've not lived very far from a river or some kind of lake that probably had them.
00:28:23
Shelley
But honestly.
00:28:28
Heather
Actually, matter of fact, we grew up going camping at a lake that had alligators in it.
00:28:32
Victoria Ouellette
ah we would see them on trails yeah
00:28:35
Heather
We would see them on trails and we would be camping right next to the lake.
00:28:39
Shelley
ah See, back home, we didn't the things that we had to be worried about was coyotes, bears,
00:28:46
Victoria Ouellette
Getting buried in snow.
00:28:49
Shelley
Well, it was flat where I lived, so there was no, like, mountains, so no avalanches or anything like that. But the bears, you had to watch for bears or wolves.
00:29:00
Shelley
And if you lived further up north, it was moose. Those were things are nasty.
00:29:04
Heather
Oh yeah, I've heard those things could be mean.
00:29:07
Shelley
Oh, and don't forget about the geese. Those are, like, the real mean, mean girls, we'll say. Canadian geese. They chase people down.
00:29:18
Victoria Ouellette
I've heard about those, yeah.
00:29:21
Heather
I've heard about that too, but is that just in certain areas or is that anywhere? Are they just mean in general?
00:29:25
Shelley
no they're just mean i guess i don't know why so so mean crazy but yeah so i learned something new about gators tonight even though it's supposed to be about fordaman um but yeah so yeah yeah
00:29:39
Victoria Ouellette
Florida is Gators, so for the most part. Yeah.
00:29:43
Heather
Yeah, when people think of Florida, they think of gators for sure.
00:29:45
Shelley
Gators right away. I don't know how many times my family's asked, how many gators have you seen since you've been there? ah One dead and one alive. So two.
00:29:55
Victoria Ouellette
it's just because people yeah I mean and we I guess we kind of did make it sound like that too that you're just gonna drive by a gator every day but you really don't I mean it's just like they're there but it's not like you see them
00:30:04
Shelley
Yeah. Well, and just like they say that panthers like are around. Obviously, we don't see them here. um There's a few bobcats somewhere in our neighborhood.
00:30:16
Heather
It really depends on where you live in Florida, to be honest.
00:30:17
Shelley
Yeah. Yeah. Because if we live by the Everglades, we'd be...
00:30:19
Victoria Ouellette
yeah that too
00:30:23
Shelley
What are those big snakes called?
00:30:25
Shelley
Boa...
00:30:25
Heather
Big snakes. Boa constructors?
00:30:28
Shelley
Is that what they're called?
00:30:28
Heather
that what you're talking about?
00:30:29
Shelley
Or pythons?
00:30:29
Heather
I don't know. I don't know what you're talking
00:30:31
Shelley
Those big snakes!
00:30:32
Victoria Ouellette
It's your story.
00:30:32
Shelley
Those...
00:30:34
Heather
about.
00:30:34
Shelley
those huge snakes that are like in the Everglades.
00:30:38
Victoria Ouellette
I don't know.
00:30:39
Shelley
um There's like a big like it's scary.
00:30:39
Heather
I don't know.
00:30:40
Victoria Ouellette
and don't study the Evergoods.
00:30:44
Shelley
um There's an infestation right now.
00:30:48
Heather
oh
00:30:49
Shelley
Burmese. Burmese pythons.
00:30:50
Victoria Ouellette
Don't go.
00:30:51
Heather
oh
00:30:52
Shelley
Yeah, they're eating all the wildlife and everything in the Everglades.
00:30:57
Heather
I think the the most I see around well I mean I'm kind of I'm not like in a city or anything so I see a lot of a lot of wild boar running my neighborhood brought wild boars yep
00:30:57
Victoria Ouellette
oh
00:30:57
Shelley
Yep.
00:31:07
Shelley
Bore?
00:31:09
Victoria Ouellette
Yeah.
00:31:10
Shelley
Be careful. Those things are pretty scary.
00:31:11
Heather
I know we've we've we've given all the kids warnings if you're gonna go outside and play especially in the night and if you see one of those things you're not out running it so i don't know climb a tree or climb a tree or something I don't know they are not friendly pigs do not go towards them um but often or not we see um like fox and um a ton of raccoons obviously and bunny rabbits and
00:31:21
Shelley
Yeah.
00:31:21
Victoria Ouellette
So good luck. like
00:31:41
Heather
um I think that's it. I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of different things around here, but that's what we see most.
00:31:51
Shelley
We see raccoons, armadillos, ah possums, and those black snakes.
00:32:01
Heather
we see possums too.
00:32:05
Shelley
the The good ones, the ones that eat.
00:32:05
Victoria Ouellette
Those black snakes are all over there. Yeah.
00:32:08
Shelley
Yeah, the ones that eat the...
00:32:10
Heather
Yeah, like the garden snake type thing.
00:32:11
Shelley
Yeah. not Not the gardener snake, but I don't know what they're called. Just the rat snake, maybe?
00:32:16
Heather
I think they're black snake. I think they are. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know.
00:32:21
Shelley
They're good to have in your yard as we're told. told
00:32:23
Victoria Ouellette
I live in town, so I really only see those big giant water birds and the duck chickens as
00:32:28
Shelley
Birds.
00:32:34
Shelley
Duck chickens.
00:32:35
Victoria Ouellette
Danny.
00:32:35
Shelley
Horse ducks.
00:32:35
Victoria Ouellette
Who calls him that? Danny? I don't remember.
00:32:40
Heather
Duck chickens.
00:32:41
Shelley
Duck chickens.
00:32:42
Victoria Ouellette
Because they look like chickens with their ducks.
00:32:42
Shelley
I don't know.
00:32:42
Heather
Okay.
00:32:43
Shelley
oh Yeah, those. ah They're ugly, right?
00:32:45
Victoria Ouellette
The ones that like literally. yeah they're so ugly. They live on my like back patio.
00:32:48
Shelley
They're ugly. ugly. Yeah, we have them.
00:32:51
Heather
We have...
00:32:51
Victoria Ouellette
Although I think over there at that pod, I think we've seen baby gators over there.
00:32:55
Victoria Ouellette
as well.
00:32:55
Heather
We have a ton of those water birds around too.
00:32:55
Victoria Ouellette
so
00:32:58
Victoria Ouellette
Yeah, you guys do for sure.
00:32:58
Shelley
the
00:32:59
Heather
when When they start making those noises, they're so loud.
00:32:59
Shelley
We have some.
00:33:02
Victoria Ouellette
Yeah.
00:33:03
Heather
It's funny.
00:33:03
Shelley
Oh, we have really pretty cardinals that always are around our house here.
00:33:03
Heather
They hang.
00:33:08
Shelley
That's wakes me up in the morning.
00:33:08
Heather
I have all kinds of owls and crows and such that hang out here too.
00:33:15
Shelley
Yeah, you kind of live in the sticks.
00:33:18
Heather
Yeah. It's not going to be that way for long. Building up houses left and right.
00:33:23
Shelley
We'll be in the sticks.
00:33:23
Heather
So.
00:33:24
Shelley
Oh, yeah. I thought you were like, because we're moving. Like, we'll all be in the sticks.
00:33:32
Victoria Ouellette
Is that it for your but for real?
00:33:33
Heather
That's when Shelly will really get to see all the animals.
00:33:35
Shelley
Oh, God.
00:33:36
Victoria Ouellette
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
00:33:37
Shelley
Oh, my gosh.
00:33:38
Victoria Ouellette
Is that it for your Florida man stories?
00:33:40
Heather
yeah that's all i have those stories i hope you guys enjoyed them i tried to find the the funny slash entertainment ones um some of them could be boring or some of them just wild or not appropriate for podcast so yeah so i kind of skipped over those but but that was it
00:33:54
Victoria Ouellette
Too wild. Yeah.
00:34:02
Victoria Ouellette
Yeah, so that'll wrap up our show for today. Again, as always, we appreciate you guys.
00:34:11
Heather
Yep. Thank you for listening in.
00:34:11
Victoria Ouellette
Any
00:34:13
Heather
We appreciate all the support. All
00:34:16
Shelley
And we we'll be back next week. Same time, same place.
00:34:21
Victoria Ouellette
As always, next Wednesday 8 a.m. So we'll see you guys then.
00:34:28
Heather
right.
00:34:28
Shelley
Bye!
00:34:28
Heather
Bye.