Truth is you can go a decade and never even see a gator.

… How? I grew up near Orlando, and seeing a smaller alligator next to an apartment complex retention pond or just in a random lake was extremely common. The week I moved away from Florida, some kid was killed by an alligator in the lake I learned to water ski in, although people being killed by alligators is extremely uncommon, they’re generally pretty chill and don’t go after animals that are bigger than them.