Over the past two weekends a number of Black Belt residents took to the Alabama River to bag an alligator during hunts monitored by the state of Alabama.

Judging by some of the monsters that were brought in, I don’t think I will be joining these hunters any time soon.

Yes, I do love to hunt and fish and the challenge of bringing in big game has always appealed to me. But there is something about engaging in hand-to-hand combat with a 700-pound reptile that just doesn’t appeal to me.

First of all, just look at the alligators! They are one of nature’s most perfect predators. They are faster than humans both on land and in the water.

On a level playing field, alligators are probably going to go undefeated against human beings.

I have never had a bass try to bite my arm off. I have been charged by an angry hog, and guess what? I don’t mess with hogs anymore.

My second argument against alligator hunting is the great unknown. In Alabama, you have to hunt the alligators at night. You may or may not have noticed the dark coloration of alligators. At night, they tend to disappear unless you have a pretty hefty spotlight on them.

That means if you snag a gator with your hooks and it takes a dive before you can get the monster under control, you never really know where he is going to come back up.

I’ve seen enough Jaws movies to know that if you don’t have a pretty good look at something that powerful, bad things are going to happen.

My final argument against alligator hunting is they are bigger than me, stronger than me, and have more teeth. I am a firm believer in fighting the battles you can win.

If I felt like getting an alligator into the boat was a slam-dunk, I’d be all in. But for now, I’m going to stick with fish, frogs, deer and squirrels.

To those who hunt alligators, wrestle bears and ride bulls, hats off to you. I’ll be cheering for you from the sidelines.