OWH Memorial Undead Topic

I really hope that holds true. Although can’t alligators basically shut down their bodies and hibernate through harsh winters?

 

inb4 IP comes and drops some obscure alligator factoid and proves how wrong you are.

 

Well I can tell you there's a few swimming the Tennessee River in North Alabama. Your days are numbered.

 

We have had enough problems as Tennesseans the past 25/30 years dealing with Gators successfully invading and running us out of our alma mater’s football stadium typically once every two years.

We as Tennesseans don’t now need actual gators invading our state. Tennessee and alligators just don’t naturally mix well together.

 

As long as they stay out of Smith Lake in Alabama where I visit and swim at a few times a year for lake weekend reunions with the childhood friend group, I can live with gators [uck fay]ing up the rest of Alabama.

The sheer thought of alligators ever being in the water with me whenever I canoe the Harpeth River is absolutely terrifying to me.

 

Yeah. Alligators aren't too bad as long as people don't feed them. But people are dumb, so...

 

True, apparently*. Not that I want to ever experience firsthand the idea of whether or not Alligators are chill animals.

Those Nile Crocs though will kill you and anything else living they can get ahold of just for the sport of it. I know Hippos kill more folks worldwide annually. Yet I still think those giant croc species such as the Nile and Salties are the scariest, most intimidating animals within the entire animal kingdom.

 

Alligators do something called brumation, which is similar. The will create mud holes and stick their snout up so that they can still breathe even if things freeze up.



They can do this for up to 5 months, and then become active again when things warm up. There has already been a range expansion northward of Alligators, and population expansion is being seen in North Carolina and even southern coastal Virginia around the Great Dismal Swamp. So yes, it is possible that at some point you could see them in Tennessee.

Alligator in a Virginia resident's pool last year: https://www.wtkr.com/news/alligator-rescued-after-being-spotted-in-chesapeake-pool

Counterpoint- their sex is determined by the temperature of the eggs in the nest, and warmer temperatures may skew the population toward female. Some people cite that as a major concern for them. But with microclimates, timing of breeding, and northern expansion, I wouldn't count the American alligator out.

 

If they can survive an asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, they can probably survive a lil cold. Resilient creatures. Regardless I will be cheering against alligators ever becoming an actual thing in this state.

 

The dinosaurs are still here too: birds.

 

I’ve actually heard before that it’s possible our idea of what a T-Rex looked like as depicted in Jurassic Park and pop culture could be incorrect. That essentially t-Rex might have looked more like a giant, scary ass feathery chicken with teeth as opposed to how we conventionally picture them. That perhaps their lil arms were more like wings that didn’t work in functionality. But idk. No clue if that’s just BS or if there is something to that theory

 

I do not know about a tyrannosaurus specifically, but the thinking is that more were partially feathered than was evident when we sort of imagined them in the flesh as scaly only. For temperature regulation, display, etc. I think if we had a time machine, their mannerisms and movements, along with a smattering of feathers, would make the bird connection super obvious.

 

Any of you cucks ever hiked Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina? Heading that way this weekend before spring practice kicks up next week.

 

Pretty sure T-Rexes became Canada geese

 

I think there's been a few little ones found around Memphis

 

I have. Quite a few years ago

Buddy and I backpacked all over Tn/NC mountains and the occasional Ga/SC trip. Made it an annual winter thing starting back '75->2000ish. Initially because it was break between Fall/Winter classes, but as we got older it was easy to get week off, no bugs, no snakes, no bears (most times), no tourists/hikers/newbies. Then we got too old that it wasn't as fun.

IIRC, we went up one trail backside and came down the old road/main trail; it was windy as hell, gale force-level; we stayed in tent, but there used to be primitive shelter (I guess it is still there). It was in winter, cold as hell and the George Dickel was very nice. It was very pretty up there, though.

 

My chihuahua does something like this when the AC is on or he is otherwise cold. Sticks his nose out of the covers and hibernates overnight and into the next day as he's gotten older. He's fixed though, so the temperature won't affect the sex of his eggs.

 

Oldest survivor of the Arizona bombing died earlier this week. He was 102 -

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/25/us/ken-potts-dead.html

Only one person left alive from the actual ship bombing, and a few more that were at Pearl Harbor.

 

After growing up in East TN, in college it weirded me out going to creeks/small rivers where we knew there were alligators. Took all of two trips to realize being afraid of them would be like being scared to hike in the smokies because of black bears or copperheads. Unless you’re an idiot the odds of having an issue are virtually zero.

 

They typically feed at night and fear humans unless they have been fed. Don't walk your pets near water at night and you're generally good.

You get accustomed to them.