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Friday, May 26, 2006

I'LL BE RIGHT BACK. I'VE GOT A CALL INTO THE PEOPLE AT THE DARWIN AWARDS

Susan Thomas was reclining in a lawn chair Monday on a sandbar on the upper river area of Ross Barnett Reservoir.

A book was open in her lap, but her attention was elsewhere.

Thomas was mostly keeping tabs on her two daughters swimming but was also on the lookout for something that could sneak up and snatch one of them.

"There are some big alligators on this river; I know, I've seen them," said Thomas, 41, of Madison. "And even though I've never seen one come near a sandbar when we've been swimming, I am paying more attention lately."

Three recent fatal alligator attacks on humans in Florida have Thomas a little more on edge.

A jogger was killed May 9 in southeastern Florida when an alligator apparently attacked her on land and dragged her to the water. A snorkeler in central Florida died five days later. And another woman was killed a few days before her dismembered body was discovered in a canal on Mother's Day.

"But we're not about to quit swimming up here," she said. "The girls (Jill, 12, and Carly, 9) love it too much. Like today, they got out of school early and had asked if we could go to the river. ... This is a lot safer than a lot of other things the girls could get into, and, if we're careful, I doubt we'll have any problems with alligators."

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