Gator Gar sttacks on humans
- Thread starter Bottomfeeder
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Maybe because the back 3/4th of the fish is basicly a big sharply scaled muscle.. that and look at the body design of the fish. That tail section is one very powerful paddle.. they do not use it to "tail slap" they use it to get away.. If you have every been around a big scared gar you would know they freak out. When they do the head and teeth are not much of an issue as this area of the fish is easy to control. The back 3/4th of the fish on the other hand will knock you butt to the ground and will cut the crap out of you. Even small gar can be really hard to control if you do not have a firm grip on the tail section.
And please get over all this "Gator gar attack people" crap they do not.. that is it... No more need to continue... It is stupid misinformed crap like this that has continued to cause so much grief for these fish and make it very difficult to educate people on why they are important to preseve. This gar attacking dogs and kids LIES do nothing to help this fish. There is ZERO evidence of any of this so unless you can prove it don't bother speculating..
And please get over all this "Gator gar attack people" crap they do not.. that is it... No more need to continue... It is stupid misinformed crap like this that has continued to cause so much grief for these fish and make it very difficult to educate people on why they are important to preseve. This gar attacking dogs and kids LIES do nothing to help this fish. There is ZERO evidence of any of this so unless you can prove it don't bother speculating..
A 5ft gar is a powerful animal. Whipping its tail could easily cause a bloody nose and some solid bruises. A 10ft gar could break a leg or worse if you took a gut shot.
Saying that, Id rather be in a 16ft tank with a 10ft gator gar then have a 10ft gator gar green in my 16ft boat!
People can be so ignorant. A large gar would NEVER view even a child as prey. Gars are fish that are usually spooked very easily and a human in the water would spook even the biggest gars out of the area.
Ive been injured by many a gar fishing though. Always longnose though when the flip out my hand and their mouth with their tiny teeth hanging out every where crazes bare skin. Stings a little bit!
ETA - Even IF a gar attacked a human, the damage would be no where near as severe as an equal sized bull shark.
Plus, I dont even think there are records of bull shark attacks in FW in the US.
Saying that, Id rather be in a 16ft tank with a 10ft gator gar then have a 10ft gator gar green in my 16ft boat!
People can be so ignorant. A large gar would NEVER view even a child as prey. Gars are fish that are usually spooked very easily and a human in the water would spook even the biggest gars out of the area.
Ive been injured by many a gar fishing though. Always longnose though when the flip out my hand and their mouth with their tiny teeth hanging out every where crazes bare skin. Stings a little bit!
ETA - Even IF a gar attacked a human, the damage would be no where near as severe as an equal sized bull shark.
Plus, I dont even think there are records of bull shark attacks in FW in the US.
I love how the most danger you're in is when a gar is trying to get away from you. great info, as always.
I think a gar will eat anything that will fit in its mouth if its hungry enough. theyd prefer smaller and easier to tackle meals, but if they are hungry enough i dont see why it wouldnt attack a small child.
yemista;2258544; said:
No they won't... They would not be in the least interested. While a gar would and do prey on small mammals and birds, if the oppertunity grants, they normally shy away from anything to large. Big gators are not really all that predatory anyhow, they are for the most part scavengers..
Well, in the muddy southern waters any large creature (Bull Shark, Crocodile, Alligator) could look like a Gar. Also a swimmer may not be seen, so when a Gar bumps into a small part of a human, it may be mistaken for being a whole prey item like a baitfish.
Most "attacks" by Gar, and Barracuda for that matter, involve spearing or fishing.
But why do audobon field guides suck?
Most "attacks" by Gar, and Barracuda for that matter, involve spearing or fishing.
But why do audobon field guides suck?
Bottomfeeder;2259841; said:
They are fancy picture books with no worthwhile Key and really bad info..
They really are not Field guides at all.
If you want a field guide get the Petersons. You can at least ID a fish without flipping pictures thinking you might find it.
Nobody ever disputed that there are recorded attacks by gars on humans and pets. The original intent of the thread was whether full grown gator gar CAN possibly attack pets and people. I still maintain that fully grown gar CAN eat just about any pet (barring great dane or similar) and certainly is capable of mistaking people for a struggling food
Generalization that gars are skittish (tank busting etc) was not observed by me. My gars are not skittish.
An experiment to feed a dog or a cat to a full grown gar would certainly draw wide spread condemnation from everyone on this forum and youtube (harsher on youtube i think) ... though i am sure there would quite a bit of support too. Having seen a small gar eating mice on youtube, it is not such a big leap of belief to imagine a gar eating a dog (perhaps not a great dane but certanly the MIB dog)
In the wild perhaps your assertion is true that when gar is bigger it becomes scavenger, in captivity i am CERTAIN it will eat dog or a cat (arguing whether it would eat a child is a mute point since no one would ever feed a captive gar a child)
Generalization that gars are skittish (tank busting etc) was not observed by me. My gars are not skittish.
An experiment to feed a dog or a cat to a full grown gar would certainly draw wide spread condemnation from everyone on this forum and youtube (harsher on youtube i think) ... though i am sure there would quite a bit of support too. Having seen a small gar eating mice on youtube, it is not such a big leap of belief to imagine a gar eating a dog (perhaps not a great dane but certanly the MIB dog)
In the wild perhaps your assertion is true that when gar is bigger it becomes scavenger, in captivity i am CERTAIN it will eat dog or a cat (arguing whether it would eat a child is a mute point since no one would ever feed a captive gar a child)
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