I'm a little nervous about them because I've been out of the canoe for so long and in the 25 years since I started canoeing their population has increased dramatically. Out in the wild, though, they're pretty timid when you're in the canoe unless there's a momma with babies around which will be happening in another month or two. The dangerous gators are the ones that live near shore where some people are stupid enough to feed them so they lose their fear of humans and begin to associate people with food. I've seen old gators and bold gators but only one old, bold gator and he was living near people, actually not far from where I was today. The bold ones don't live long enough to get very big unless some dumbass is feeding them. That said it's NEVER a good idea to go swimming in fresh water around here, but some people are stupid enough to do that too. Last week some dumbass chipped his golfball into a pond and just had to step into the water to look for it. He got a nasty bite but lived and I bet he and his golf buddies won't do anything like that again. Last year a 90 year old woman lost a leg to one that lived in the canal behind her house when she went down to the water's edge. She lived too but I'd bet that she had been feeding the thing.