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VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Gators at Stephen C. Foster State Park 

 
Here's the first video, from Saturday, July 10, recorded in the canal between the boat basin at Stephen C. Foster State Park, and Billy's Lake.
 
This is another video, from the following day, Sunday, July 11, of gators in the same canal around daybreak.
 

This still photo of a video was taken by Ray Cason in the canal from the Stephen C. Foster State Park boat basin to Billy's Lake on Saturday, July 10.
 
'Feeding
Frenzy'
Local man records
gator feeding ritual
at Stephen C. Foster
State Park
Ray Cason was expecting an ordinary day fishing when he dipped his boat into the black water at Stephen C. Foster State Park last Saturday at sunrise.
But the next few minutes proved to be anything but ordinary.
What Cason, of Homerville, witnessed, and caught on video and film, is a rare phenomenon that some call cooperative feeding, or cooperative fishing. In this case, hundreds of alligators congregated in the boat basin at Stephen C. Foster State Park, near Fargo, and the canal from the boat basin to Billy's Lake, and engaged in what Cason called "a feeding frenzy." Cason caught the rare sight early Saturday morning, and again early Sunday morning. The ritual only lasted about 30-to-40 minutes each morning, he said.
"It was unreal," said Cason, who filmed the gators with his digital camera. "There were 10-foot gators with their entire bodies three feet above the water. Gators rolling all over themselves. It was foggy that first morning (Saturday, July 10), but I bet there were 300 gators I saw in that boat basin and canal."
There were other witnesses as well, but it is believed Cason was the only one who has the scene on video. Cason sent a copy of his video to Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge officials in Folkston.
"I saw the video, but haven't been it (cooperative feeding) before myself," said Refuge Biologist Sarah Aicher. "Others who have been here longer said they saw it happen once around the (Suwannee River) sill area, where there were a large congregation of mudfish, and the alligators had a communal feeding of the mudfish. The alligators somehow get a signal and congregate and feed. It's a mystery how they do that."
Cason also posted Saturday's video on his Facebook page – not anticipating the tremendous buzz it would create.
"I had thousands of hits on it in one day, and had 200 people I didn't know with friend requests (so they could see the video)," said Cason. "I had a guy from AP (Associated Press) offering me money for it. It was too much. I finally decided to take it down. I had some colleges call. I'll give them (the videos and photos he took) to a college or something if they want them, but I don't want any money for it."
Cason agreed to allow The Clinch County News to post the videos on its website (www.theclinchcountynews.com) in an effort to promote interest in Fargo and Stephen C. Foster State Park.
There are stories of gators feeding communally in the swamp, but few recorded on paper or film.  Noted biologist Francis Harper recounts an instance of cooperative feeding of alligators in the swamp at Buzzard Roost Lake, as witnessed by Allen Chesser in 1890. In one of Harper's publications, he quoted Chesser's description of what he witnessed (in Chesser's dialect): "These alligators, I suppose, they must a drive all the fish out er this big lake, an' down this road (the outlet). It 'us in between daylight and sunrise. I heard the racket before I got there. The alligators cared nothin' fer us. There must a been three hundred uv 'em."
Chesser also tells about witnessing large gators jumping out of the water, and biting each other.
Cason's account is very similar.
Arriving at sunrise, Cason put his boat in at the basin and heard splashing, but couldn't see far due to the fog. Once in, he said there were an estimated 150 alligators in the boat basin. He said a man from Douglas was behind him, putting his boat in at the same time.
"It looked like they (the gators) were rounding the fish up and cornering them in the boat basin, and also pushing them into the bank," Cason said. "I saw one gator with another gator in his mouth. It was a feeding frenzy. I've never seen anything like it."
Cason said he wasn't scared that the gators would flip his boat, and went on fishing once he got outside the canal, where the gator ruckus was happening.
"The water level was low, and I guess something just went off in their heads that they were going to starve," said Cason. "Male gators don't like each other, and some of those gators were 12- to 13-feet long, so they were males. It would be interesting to find out what tripped it."
Despite the image of 300 gators converging in one area for a fish feast, Aicher said visitors have little reason to fear coming to the swamp.
"This wasn't a sign that the world is exploding or anything like that," Aicher said Monday. "It's still safe to canoe through the swamp, and fish in the swamp. It's just an isolated incident, and a very interesting one."
 

Visitor Comments
 
Submitted By: Greg E. Giles Submitted: 7/21/2010
My name is Greg Giles, my mother was raised in Fargo, we live in Blakely Ga. My grandparents were Talmadge and Maude Barton and I have heard them, many years ago, tell stories about this. They knew people that had seen this they might have seen it as well. They lived on Billy's Island in the swamp many years ago when they were harvesting cypress trees out of there. Thank you for the picture, would like to see more.

Submitted By: Marilee Stone Submitted: 7/21/2010
Never saw anything like this before. Thanks to Mr. Cason for the video and his sharing with the Clinch County Newspaper, so people can see it. I enjoyed it, but I sure wouldn't have wanted to be in that boat!

Submitted By: BARBARA BARTON Submitted: 7/22/2010
Greg I was married to Andrew (Drew) Barton, son of Reynolds Barton. Are you a long lost cousin or have you ever heard of Reynolds?

Submitted By: Paul Wayne Dominy Submitted: 7/22/2010
My Dad Paul Dawson Dominy was with the C.C. BOYS and dug and made roads by hand in the swamp in the 1930's

Submitted By: Lynn Helton Submitted: 7/23/2010
Heck, I kayak all over the Tennessee River in north Alabama. I'm stayin' here. There is no way in the world I would venture my skinny self down there. Why is it "still safe to canoe through the swamp"? Y'all are a lot braver than I am.

Submitted By: John Eadie Submitted: 7/23/2010
I have been in and out of Oefenokee for more than 60 years (12 years as manager of the refuge) but I have never seen anything approaching this type of cooperative feeding. The swamp water must be very low.

Submitted By: Jim Steeley Submitted: 7/23/2010
I recall fishing in the Suwanne Canal many years ago with my kids, Chris and Rhonda, when the canal was alive with gators--lots of them, but we never witnessed anything like this. Glad we missed it!! Jim Steeley formerly of Folkston, Ga. now, Otto NC.

Submitted By: david stubbs Submitted: 7/23/2010
that was pretty cool, but, it would have been better had the cameraman stayed put and filmed a little, something may have been learned. Oh well, he must have been in a hurry, had to plow right through them, even hit one it sounded like. Aren't gators protected?

Submitted By: Israel Dupont/LivingAmongAlligators.net Submitted: 7/24/2010
Very nice video- Thank you for sharing it. I would love to see actual video of the cooperative feeding taking place. Unfortunately the videos above show only the alligators spooked by the approaching boat. Alligators are most active at night and at dawn, and in the warm months they gather in the night and morning for various 'social activities' so cooperative feeding, just as do other crocodilians worldwide.

Submitted By: Frank Submitted: 7/24/2010
GOOD PLACE TO HOLD A POLITICAL CONVENTION

Submitted By: Ray Cason Submitted: 7/25/2010
Thanks to all yall that watched the video and liked it. It is still very safe to be in the swamp in a boat,canoe or kayak. This was something very rare. I was back in the swamp the next weekend and seen maybe 30 gators all day. Thanks Ray Cason

Submitted By: ellen Submitted: 7/25/2010
What an amazing sight. So glad & grateful for the opportunity. To watch this ritual.

Submitted By: Kim Skaff Submitted: 7/25/2010
What a Sight! I remember swimming in the swamp way back when. I loved going to the Griffis home that was very close to the area. We would jump in and swim and when we saw the gators eyes go under we would jump out screaming & laughing all the while. Somehow age sets in, and that urge to get in the water with "NO FEAR" passes with youth. Loved, loved the video.

Submitted By: David Buschhorn Submitted: 7/25/2010
Wow. Don't go anywhere without your camera. Good on you, Ray Cason, for not trying to turn it into gold. Good on you, my man.

Submitted By: Ed Maioriello Submitted: 7/26/2010
My wife and I experienced something very much like this about 6 or 7 years ago (water was really low then too) in the Suwanee Canal on the Folkston side of the swamp. When we were there it might not have been quite as dense with alligators (but close), but then we were in a canoe. I've been scuba diving in springs and rivers with alligators and have visited the Okefenokee many times but that was the only time I recall being really scared!

Submitted By: Butch Kirkland Submitted: 7/26/2010
I am currently residing in Omaha, NE. No alligators near Omaha. I am orginally from Kirkland, Georgia, near Douglas, Tifton, Waycross. I grew up fishing on the outskirts of the swamp in my youth. The alligator reptile is thousands of years old. I suspect this happens remotely more than man realizes. These creatives have been on earth a long time and I suspect they will remain here dispite mankind and his efforts to eradicate them. Nature, it's a beutiful thing. Many thanks for keeping this noncommercial and sharing with so many folks electronically. (Butch Kirkland, formerly from Atkinson, County, Georgia

Submitted By: W. C. Beckham Submitted: 7/26/2010
And to think we would swim at this same place in our youth. Myself, John Daugharty, George Dame Peagler and Bangston White played there so many years ago. Thanks for the video.

Submitted By: Ernest Cantrell Submitted: 7/26/2010
My wife and I and usually about 6 other friends, take 3 day 2 night camping/kayaking trips here, 1-2 times a year. Our friend John Norman got us started in this ritual, but we have never seen anything like this.Usually we have to look hard to even see gators. Do not want to be around when this happens, would have to do some serious back paddling.

Submitted By: Mike Submitted: 7/26/2010
You guys a crazy. If that boat tipped over you would be history in a second.

Submitted By: RevBulldog Submitted: 7/26/2010
any of ya'll wanna go do sum gator rasslin?

Submitted By: Steve Knight Submitted: 7/26/2010
I have seen this collective feeding behavior in alligators several different times over the last 12 years or so on the East side of the Refuge, while guiding for our business. It was in Chesser Prarie on the Monkey Lake trail and on a shorter trail that I've always called the back cut but they call "Tater Rake" on the maps. This was happening during late spring or early summer hot weather and low water times on these narrow trails. Hundreds of alligators and also multitudes wading birds especially the Egrets and Herons seemed to be involved in the feeding frenzy also. The bird activity was from a safer distance off to the side. I actually took a small tour group of wide eyed kayakers through a 2 to 3 hundred yard stretch that must have had 3 hundred gators in it. My main instruction to them was: stay upright in your kayak, stay single file close behind me and try not to hit any of them with your paddle.

Submitted By: Sammy Submitted: 7/27/2010
We were there the week before we saw a lot of gators then but nothing like this. Don't know if i would have drove the boat through or not.We had a great time, didnt catch any fish though..It has been 30 something years since i was there before could not remember how to get to the place where we used to fish. As i remember we used to go to a place where we could park the boat on a dam like or road and fish some too ....but could not find it this time

Submitted By: Stephens Submitted: 7/27/2010
My brother, who lives in Fargo, told me about this video. Two questions? Are you guys nuts? Acutally I've been through the swamp and seen a few gators but there is no way I would go into this. & Where are all these gators when they are not in an eating frenzy?

Submitted By: Randy Vick Submitted: 7/28/2010
always heard the old timers tell stories of this happening but didnt know whether to believe them or not, i do now.

Submitted By: steve b Submitted: 7/28/2010
what a shame we can't process all those immigrents that always choose no 2 on the touch pad, through this channel into our culture and land of opportunity

Submitted By: rsweet Submitted: 7/28/2010
Ray, I still want so more of your boar sausage!!

Submitted By: Nena Submitted: 7/28/2010
Precisely why I live in the desert...lol

Submitted By: Mark Submitted: 7/29/2010
I have also seen birds doing this but not gators. Anhingas diving for the fish while egrets and herons walk the shoreline corraling fish in canals.

Submitted By: james lane Submitted: 7/29/2010
i'm from the small town of manor which is close to the swamp.i'm a decedent of Obediah Barber( grandfather's family)and Hamp Mizell(Grandmoter's father)Anyways, to my comment. When i was young and in Boy Scouts: my troop when to Billy's lake to practice for an upcoming canoe race that was held annually on the satilla river near waycross and blackshear.well this same thing happen in the same exact spot in the photo back around 35 yrs ago. We still put our canoes in at the landing there,however;we were much more careful. I never thought anything about this again until I saw these pictures and it brought back those memories like it was yesterday.

Submitted By: catherine in tulsa Submitted: 7/29/2010
I can't watch the video- but my mother said that the alligators were eating each other - that doesn't sound right from the reports I am reading - can anyone answer that question - did the alligators eat each other?

Submitted By: Capt. Alec Blalock Submitted: 7/30/2010
I do SCUBA Charters and gator hunts on the Cooper River (SC). I witnessed gator behavior July 29th that I have never seen before and think it may be related. I am interested in feedback. The water was an unusually warm 88 deg. The gators were congregating in the middle of the river, floating very high in the water. They were not thrashing around, just floating, and there was a very pronounced fish odor in the water. Don't know if the odor was fish or the gators. There were 6 gators in this half acre area, more than I have ever seen here before. They were adult, but not huge, maybe 8 footers. I have been on the river a lot over the last 15 years and was struck by this behavior that I have never witnessed before. Capt Alec of DEEP SOUTH RIVERS

Submitted By: Virgnia Hooper Barber Submitted: 7/31/2010
I used to live in Fargo or Edith to be exact in the late 50's and early 60's. I've been to Stephen Foster lots of times and have observed the gators up by the trading post at night with bears coming out of the woods to raid the garbage cans. Mr. Lane, My husband, James B. Barber, is a great, great grandson of Obediah Barber and we just had our 1st Obediah descendant reunion. Next year it will be April 30th at Obediah's Okefenoke out from Waycross. Please come. Virginia Hooper Barber

Submitted By: JN Submitted: 8/1/2010
For what it's worth: We live in southwest Georgia with a similar climate to Homerville, and at about this same time, we experienced a fish die-off of about 20 grass carp that we had purchased last year and put into our pond to control weeds. The other fish--bass and bream mostly--weren't affected. I'm thinking it was a temperature issue, as we have an aerator going in the pond. So maybe the gators could sense some distress of the fish?

Submitted By: Remando Submitted: 8/1/2010
I live in Missouri--- I ain't never gonna git in a boat anywhere south of the Missoura river... guy crazy to be out in a little boat with all of those pre-historical critters in that water.... take on a grizzly bear before those critters

Submitted By: Don Taylor Submitted: 8/2/2010
I have lived in South all my life and once back in the '40's I saw Water snakes do the same @ Twin Lakes in Valdosta Ga., but the man down there said they were mating. Are you sure they were not mating?

Submitted By: rhonda Submitted: 8/4/2010
wow,being from sw GA. I never gave it much thought.I have fished swam and camped in those envioments.I agree with Kim, no fear does pass with youth.Thanks Ray for the great footage. Ijust wonder if you caught a lot of fish? I live in arkansas near the Kings River,no gators.But I do miss the swamp.

Submitted By: Bones Submitted: 8/8/2010
I LOVE GEORGIA,ESP. SOUTH GA. AND THE SWAMPS

Submitted By: Rhonda Submitted: 8/9/2010
Yeah.Ya'll,The great state of Georgia is GREAT.Who's afraid of a few little ole gators anyway?Not Ray.That vidio just made this GA.Peach homesick.

Submitted By: Keith H. Submitted: 8/9/2010
I'm Keith H., formerly of Milledgeville, son of Keith and Ana Maria of MO, formerly of Monroe. Does the low, hot water correspond with a certain time in the moon's cycle? I'm assuming the low water is in effect a low tide. Them gators would eat me alive if I fell in that water. Good ole Georgia!

Submitted By: dana Submitted: 8/17/2010
this is all we need at the border!!!!!

Submitted By: Dale Dietzman Submitted: 8/17/2010
William Bartram, in his journals of travels thru pre- and post- Revolutionary War era Georgia and Florida, searching for new plant and animal species, as recorded in the book _Bartram's_Travels_, recounts seeing the entire St. John's River blocked by just such a "feeding frenzy". He had to beach his canoe and wait until the next day to proceed up the river.

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