Yes, gators defenitely crossed my mind but only in certain circumstances... in that situation, there was an abundance of food with the flood... so a big gator, most likely, would not have risked a big live target that might hurt him... Full grown cattle thrashin' gonna make most gators keep their distance....
.... Predicting what a big gator is gonna do is, at best, a guess though... I get in and get out as fast as I can when in dark water now... I know what can be waiting just underneath the surface...