As a kid who spent a lot of time in the woods, I never saw one around here. Now, they're very common ... in fact, there's a nest within walking distance from my house. Yep P-hole, not believing the DDT thing would be a hard argument IMO ... some people are just dense.

Same with alligators down here. Growing up, I could spot eyes on the lake in more remote areas with a light at night, but never saw one in the wild during the day. They had been hunted to near extinction when I was a kid. They became protected and hunting was banned when I was like 10 years old, but these days, we have a legal hunting season and about any mud puddle in town has at least one gator in it. The lakes and rivers are full of them and they're usually just layin' out sunning on the banks when you drive by.