Golf Course Wildlife: Snake! Be Ready For The Unexpected!

The Port Labelle Inn and Oxbow Golf Course near the Florida Everglades has signs near its many lakes, "Do Not Molest The Alligators". I took my visiting New York City brother there for a round of golf and he noticed the "Do Not Molest..." sign and said,

"What the hell? Do they think I'm going to jump on the back of an alligator and tease him?"

"No, just don't throw anything at them.," I replied.

Another day, I was sitting in a courtroom in Lee County,Florida listening to lawyers argue over a case where the Plaintiff had been bitten by a rattlesnake looking for his ball in the rough and later filed suit against the golf course for damages. The golf course filed a motion to dismiss the suit. The snake bitten Plaintiff's lawyer argued, "Your honor, they should have at least given a warning to golfers. It would be reasonable and the duty of the Golf Course to at least post a sign, 'Beware of poisonous snakes.' .Both sides argued on and on. Finally, the judge said,

"If I rule the Plaintiff has a right to sue in this case, then that would require every golf course in the State of Florida to post a sign, "Beware of Rattlesnakes." Well, everyone knows there's poisonous snakes in Florida. Do hammer manufacturers have to put a label on hammers - If you hit your thumb with this, it will hurt you? Case dismissed."

We as golfers know there are hidden dangers. I played a very fine golf course near Sydney with three Aussies who were kind enough to let me join their threesome. On one of first few holes, I hit my drive into the right rough which Aussies call "bush" and started to walk into the bush to look for it.

"Hold on, mate," I heard one of them say.

"Oh, I'm just going to take a quick look for my ball," I said. Then I heard a chuckle. "What?" I asked.

"That's a web of a funnel web spider web right next you, mate."

"Are they dangerous?" I asked.

Then I heard another chuckle. "You've got to respect the nature here, mate."

See this next video of an alligator/croc attack on a golfer playing a round in Cancun.

Dangerous animal attacks don't happen often but have disastrous effects if they do. Heart attacks are more common. But we don't have room in our bag to carry a defibrillator. Many golf courses have defibrillators around the course as a matter of good practice. But there's something that's not bulky that you can easily have on your bag.