The Frontierland Crocs

thedingo · Post by **thedingo** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 9:19 am

WDW is notorious among cast members for attracting crocodiles/alligators (I never could tell the difference) during the summer season. Last time I spotted one was in the boardwalk in Frontierland. A manager told me to stand there and somehow try to keep a crowd from gathering there (nobody EVER pays attention to Custodians in the park..is it our uniforms or something??). Anyway, While keeping my back to te fence, I hear several thuds from behind me. I turn and see some idiot guest (I know thats redundant, but..) tossing turkey legs to the crocodile...now this is stupid by itself..but that wasn't the stupidest part. I immediately told him to stop (in a cease-and-desist tone). "But," he replies" I just wanna get a picture of it with its mouth open", and readies his camera\, with a second turkey bone ready to throw in his other hand. Now, on this specifiic day, my tolerance for guest idiocy was lower than normal, having had to contend with the ridiculous crowd that develops n the Big Thuder/Splash Mountain area during the summer. Anyway, I replied (loud enough for the guest and anyone within a good 50 ft of him to hear), "SIR, ITS AGAINST THE LAW! NOW STOP FEEDING IT BEFORE I CALL SECURITY". Needless to say, he disappeared quite fast, probably having only heard the word security....
Now that I think about it, I SHOULD'VE let him get a pic of it with its mouth open...only, he'd have to climb over the fence and take it from 2 ft of the gator >:D

IndyandMarion · Post by **IndyandMarion** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 3:49 pm

Alligators-Broad, wide mouth.

Crocs-Narrow mouth.

Unless it was released, the only thing you SHOULD see in the waters around here in Florida are gators.

But considering the fact that Florida also has the ability to vote twice in the same election...anything is possible.

So how is Ginger's cousin doin anyways? For those of you who are confused, a while back, a lot of people tried to get a joke going between the Crocs on the Jungle Cruise and the gators in frontierland were cousins....but it never really caught on.

GMC · Post by **GMC** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 3:36 am

sad, i live in socal, where i have to worry about cougars and cayotes, and don't have any (known) large predatory reptiles, yet i know the difference and a flordinian, doesn't... i want wild animals running loose in my park... all we have are rats, and ferril cats.

Zazu · Post by **Zazu** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 10:43 am

GMC wrote:... i want wild animals running loose in my park....

Maybe you don't.

At WDW, we sometimes have to slow or stop the steam trains because the deer aren't afraid of them. Wouldn't do to pull into the station with Cream of Bambi soup splashed all over the loco.

Armadillos are like hard-shell possums, only not as smart (like that's possible). Nearly big enough to derail a train, certainly big enough to flip a Pargo -- plus they dig holes in the ground the size of your leg. Lovely things to find in the dark, they are!

Raccoons are not often seen because they all work third shift. Leave so much as a cookie upstairs and they'll get it, even if it's in a locked cabinet. I've watched them use their claws to unscrew the hinges from a cabinet for a two-week-old Twinkie.

You wouldn't think rabbits would be trouble, but they are. Once the bunnies get big enough the hawks can't lift them, they're essentially free of predators (unless they go swimming with the gators). The result is 35 pound rabbits with no fear. A kid goes over a fence to "pet the pretty bun bun" anywhere else, and the rabbit bugs out. Here they bit off a finger and keep grazing.

I have a psychological problem with spiders. Comes from early training in an area where Black Widows were common (Torrance, CA), so I don't really object to it. In Florida, we get what are called "banana spiders" that are so big they don't even register as spiders on my freakometer. Some say they're called banana spiders because they were brought in from Central America with fresh bananas. I think it's because they're about the same size. Not uncommon for one of those 3-inch beauties the stretch a web clear across the railroad tracks!

And finally, snakes. "Why did it have to be snakes?" I like the CM who found a nest of corn snakes and stuffed them in the snake pit at the Great Movie Ride. The rest of them.... In the winter, snakes will find some warm place to nap. Control consoles are a favorite, but they're inventive so you always have to keep a look out. True, it's fun to be looking off the back of the train and find two half-rattlesnakes, but when each half is four-feet long ... and he probably has a brother nearby....

Yeah, it gets worse than just alligators.

IndyandMarion · Post by **IndyandMarion** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 10:55 am

I hate snakes. Seriously, its not because of my connection with Indiana Jones or anything, I just hate snakes. But then again, when your on a trip to S. America and get a boa wrapped around your neck without knowing it because your asleep...yeah, you'd hate snakes too.

But uh, when I went over to Tom's Island one day for a day of shooting for a short movie with Indiana Jones (me being him) and we were in the crystal cave, yeah when I found out there were rattlers on the island, needless to say I said move me to a soundstage and left, then continued to the mainland by walking on water (You know what I mean).

On a related note about the rabbits. We have like four familes of rabbits over at Fantasmic (In WDW), and one of the babies (who was about 4 or 5 months old I believe) fell into the moat over night and when the tech crew came in the next morning, they found him floating in the moat.

CujoSR · Post by **CujoSR** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 11:40 am

Zazu wrote:
GMC wrote:... i want wild animals running loose in my park....
You wouldn't think rabbits would be trouble, but they are. Once the bunnies get big enough the hawks can't lift them, they're essentially free of predators (unless they go swimming with the gators). The result is 35 pound rabbits with no fear. A kid goes over a fence to "pet the pretty bun bun" anywhere else, and the rabbit bugs out. Here they bit off a finger and keep grazing.

Tim the Enchanter: Follow. But. Follow only if ye be men of valour, for the entrance to this cave is guarded by a creature so foul, so cruel that no man yet has fought with it and lived. Bones of full fifty men lie strewn about its lair. So, brave knights, if you do doubt your courage or your strength, come no further, for death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth.
King Arthur: What an eccentric performance.
Tim the Enchanter: There he is!
King Arthur: Where?
Tim the Enchanter: There!
King Arthur: What? Behind the rabbit?
Tim the Enchanter: It IS the rabbit!
King Arthur: You silly sod!
Tim the Enchanter: What?
King Arthur: You got us all worked up!
Tim the Enchanter: Well, that's no ordinary rabbit.
King Arthur: Ohh.
Tim the Enchanter: That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on!
Sir Robin: You tit! I soiled my armor I was so scared!
Tim the Enchanter: Look, that rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide! It's a killer!
Sir Galahad: Get stuffed!
Tim the Enchanter: He'll do you up a treat, mate.
Sir Galahad: Oh yeah?
Sir Robin: You mangy Scots git!
Tim the Enchanter: I'm warning you!
Sir Robin: What's he do? Nibble your bum?
Tim the Enchanter: He's got huge, sharp-- eh-- he can leap about-- look at the bones!
King Arthur: Go on, Bors. Chop his head off!
Bors: Right! Silly little bleeder. One rabbit stew comin' right up!
[after Bors is killed by the killer rabbit]
Tim the Enchanter: I WARNED you, but did you listen to me? Oh, no, you know, didn't you? Oh, it's just a harmless little BUNNY, isn't it?

Buggy · Post by **Buggy** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 11:45 am

At our behind the scenes tour at AK, the CM told us that every Easter a rabbit would enter the Meerkat enclosure and be found dead the next morning, eaten by the Meerkats, but that could have been her way of pulling one over on the stupid guests.

DisneyPrincess · Post by **DisneyPrincess** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:43 pm

Zazu wrote:
GMC wrote:... i want wild animals running loose in my park....
Maybe you don't.

And finally, snakes. "Why did it have to be snakes?" I like the CM who found a nest of corn snakes and stuffed them in the snake pit at the Great Movie Ride. The rest of them.... In the winter, snakes will find some warm place to nap. Control consoles are a favorite, but they're inventive so you always have to keep a look out. True, it's fun to be looking off the back of the train and find two half-rattlesnakes, but when each half is four-feet long ... and he probably has a brother nearby....

Pargo engines are another place they like, we've pulled a few out of ours before.

GMC · Post by **GMC** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 6:17 pm

Zazu wrote:
GMC wrote:... i want wild animals running loose in my park....
Maybe you don't.

At WDW, we sometimes have to slow or stop the steam trains because the deer aren't afraid of them. Wouldn't do to pull into the station with Cream of Bambi soup splashed all over the loco.

Armadillos are like hard-shell possums, only not as smart (like that's possible). Nearly big enough to derail a train, certainly big enough to flip a Pargo -- plus they dig holes in the ground the size of your leg. Lovely things to find in the dark, they are!

Raccoons are not often seen because they all work third shift. Leave so much as a cookie upstairs and they'll get it, even if it's in a locked cabinet. I've watched them use their claws to unscrew the hinges from a cabinet for a two-week-old Twinkie.

You wouldn't think rabbits would be trouble, but they are. Once the bunnies get big enough the hawks can't lift them, they're essentially free of predators (unless they go swimming with the gators). The result is 35 pound rabbits with no fear. A kid goes over a fence to "pet the pretty bun bun" anywhere else, and the rabbit bugs out. Here they bit off a finger and keep grazing.

I have a psychological problem with spiders. Comes from early training in an area where Black Widows were common (Torrance, CA), so I don't really object to it. In Florida, we get what are called "banana spiders" that are so big they don't even register as spiders on my freakometer. Some say they're called banana spiders because they were brought in from Central America with fresh bananas. I think it's because they're about the same size. Not uncommon for one of those 3-inch beauties the stretch a web clear across the railroad tracks!

And finally, snakes. "Why did it have to be snakes?" I like the CM who found a nest of corn snakes and stuffed them in the snake pit at the Great Movie Ride. The rest of them.... In the winter, snakes will find some warm place to nap. Control consoles are a favorite, but they're invetive so you always have to keep a look out. True, it's fun to be looking off the back of the train and find two half-rattlesnakes, but when each half is four-feet long ... and he probably has a brother nearby....

Yeah, it gets worse than just alligators.

keeping in mind anaheim used to be ranch/farmland not too many deer running about

aramdillos, always wanted one as a pet, and what the hell is a pargo

it's more than likely that we have racoons, but like you siad, probly a third-shift animal.

bunnies, well we have ferral cats which control the rodent population(rats a jackracbbits) they don't ever get big enough to cuase a problem, i'm willing to bet that they're pretty well gone, however i live withing 10 miles of the park, right where the geography starts to change, and near a river, and they still live in the area.

i don't do spiders, if i had a web across my track i'd stop the train and call 911, or shit my pants, then agian, calling 911 would require me to rough it along the tracks to the nearest park phone, eep! i think that the two three four and five hundred seris trains would just have to become an armed division on disney, so that we could blast those mofo's. Did you know that it takes an entire can of lysol to kill a black widow? Or that if you threaten them with [very long] scissors, that their front legs drip venom, and continue to do so after they've been removed? Oh and bannana spiders, are actually where bannans come from... when they die, they hang from their back legs, and let the front ones droop foreward, and pretty soon they get grimey, and jungle guuk gets on them and stuff, and then the sun hardens the guuk and yellows it, and when you cut the banna in half you can still see the legs down the middle... sick huh? (not a real)

snakes, i think some irsh saint drove them all out, however the area is home to rattlers, and gopher snakes, which look like rattles at a glance, and not to mention any thing that people have as pets and decide that they no longer wish to have.

we are also prone to swarms of bees, and have several traps around the park, and probly plenty of nests as well. thunder mountian had to go 101 some time ago for swarming bees. i remember it being in the news
Edited by CujoSR: Fixed BBcode error

IndyandMarion · Post by **IndyandMarion** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 6:20 pm

Pargo=Disney's version of a damn golf cart. That's all they are. Golf carts. But no. You know disney, have to change the name of everything.