I went kayaking this weekend on Turkey Creek in Palm Bay for anybody familiar with Brevard county. Anyway, I had my first "close call" with a gator. I saw a few as I was going but they seemed ver disinterested in me. Anyway, as I was coming back I got to a fairly wide open spot so I was paddling pretty quick, anyway, as I turned a corner into a narrower portion due to some downed debris, I came right up on an 8 footer! He was blocking the creek. Anyway, I think we both scared the hell out of each other. He jumped and dove and I high tailed in the other direction. I waited a few minutes then came back and caught him crawling up on the bank. I tried to stay to the other side and pull my way through the debris by grabbing the branches. When I got about 10 feet from him he shot right in the water at me. Again, I paddled like a madman in the oppositte direction. Anyway, to make a along story short I retreated pretty far looking for a way to get up on land to walk around him, but couldn't find any. About 45 minutes later I paddled back and luckily he was not there anymore. I saw a few more on the way out but they seemed very uninterested in me. I know that he was probably just as scared as I was, but when you see something like that move that fast that close to you, it's quite an uncomfortable feeling. Beautiful spot to paddle though for anybody in the area looking for new places.
