Monday, February 21, 2011

Alligator Awareness Is Fort Worth's Latest Craze


Today I am finding myself learning all sorts of new things. Like I did not know that Inner Tubing in the Trinity River was Fort Worth's latest craze. I am so un-trendy and un-cool, these type things just escape my attention.

Then Water Baby, she being the Water Baby who yesterday sent me a picture she took of a gator enjoying the Trinity River, in the same part of the Trinity River that is so popular with those caught up floating in Fort Worth's latest craze, sent me a couple links to City of Fort Worth informational webpages about Alligator Awareness in Tarrant and Wise County. Why Wise County gets added to Tarrant and none of the other counties surrounding Tarrant County, I don't know.

The other link Water Baby sent me was to another City of Fort Worth webpage, titled "ALLIGATOR AWARENESS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS."

One of the frequently asked questions was, "How many are there?" As in how many alligators, I assume. The answer only focuses on the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge, saying "preliminary findings" indicate the alligator population is between 15 and 25. No mention is made of how many are living in Lake Worth. Or how many relatives of that big 10 footer that was run over near my abode, last year, are still in my neighborhood.

Water Baby pointed me to an amusing part of the AA FAQ in the Public Education Program section where it advises, "Avoid swimming and doing other water activities in areas where alligators are known to exist."

So, you've got one part of the City of Fort Worth government advising the public to avoid swimming and other water activities in areas where alligators are known to exist, while another part of the Fort Worth City Government organizes Happy Hour Inner Tubing Parties in part of the Trinity River where alligators are known to exist. And has turned this activity into a craze that has swept fad prone Fort Worth like a hula hoop attached to a frisbee.

How can anyone not get why I love living in this nutty, craze prone town?

5 comments:

  1. Who will be sued when they get their butt bit? The city of FW? The Trinity River Vision Authority? The Tarrant Regional Water District? Who pays for that? Oh yes, we do...

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  2. If inner tubing the trinity is fort worth's latest craze, I'm curious what the fort worth craze was before the latest fort worth craze.

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  3. Well, Anonymous #2, I thought everyone knew that the Fort Worth Craze that Inner Tubing the Trinity River replaced as the latest was the Hole Poking Craze. You know, seeing how many Barnett Shale Gas Drilling Holes you can poke in a densely populated urban zone. That was a really cool craze while it lasted.

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  4. That gator in the picture is so cute. Too bad you can't pet them.

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  5. The TRV website says that the craze will continue and there's no need to fear tubing carnage. They project that by peak tubing season, the seven foot alligator gars will eat the six foot alligators. Problem solved. Thanks, Mother Nature!

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