There Are Gators in Florida

by usathroughoureyes

Greetings to all.  Our exploration of Florida continues, and today we want to share some images of a creature we find fascinating.  We had lived here a few months but on all our hiking and biking escapades we had not encountered the one prominent creature that is synonymous with this State… alligators. We joked that they must have all been in the far south of Florida getting their  teeth polished.  Then, on one of our trail walks, we met a fellow photographer and shared our frustration of not seeing any and he assured us they were a very real presence in just about EVERY body of water.  As he was saying this, he casually looked to a spot along the shore a couple  yards out and said, “see there is a baby one and look over there, its mother.”  The creatures had just surfaced and were draped with a coating of algae making for the perfect camouflage.  Well we must say from that point on it was like everywhere we went near water there was a gator.  Folks they are very real and please take them seriously.

We often see them lying quietly hidden not far from a pathway patiently waiting for an unsuspecting creature to wonder by so they can satisfy their primal instinct to eat.    Regularly the news has a sad report of someone lamenting their loss for not heeding the signage. We recall one experience when camping along Fish Eating Creek in south Florida.  It was early morn and a beautiful mist blanketed the river. I stood crouched, camera and recorder in hand scanning the shoreline.  Suddenly, I heard this loud crunching sound that sounded like someone chewing on a large salad crouton.  As I looked toward the noise there it was… an exceptionally large gator crunching on a good size turtle.  The gator’s head was positioned upright, rocking from side to side as it arranged the meal between its jaws.  Then before I knew it, the show was over without capturing the image or recording the sound.  My mind sure captured it however and will not quickly forget it.

We hope you enjoy the images.  Don’t forget to check out our USA Through Our Eyes Vimeo site  to see some of our recent video productions.  So, until next time be safe and keep looking up.

usathroughoureyes

~ USA Through Our Eyes ~ Stories Told Through Words, Photographs, Videos and Sound

18 thoughts on “There Are Gators in Florida”

  1. Great thoughts. we need to sign on with our “smart phones” and make sure it is coming across correctly. It is great learning from other bloggers like you that are discovering that although wordpress is good there are areas of it that need tweaking.

    Liked by 2 people

  2. I’ve noticed that before in my own blogs, too: it’s not always “what you see is what you get”. When I used yellow text on a blue background in my “Bilderbuch Blog”, people who used a smartphone got white text on a white background!
    Tanks for taking me with you to see the US through your eyes, and have a great weekend,
    Pit

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Yes they are, as well Rattlesnakes are very real here too. We live in a very dry hot summer climate. Soon it will shift into Fall. We have all sorts of things that crawl around. I was surprised because everyone was so frightened by the bugs in Florida, but our bugs are bad. Many dangerous spiders, and our mosquitoes get bad too. One thing we have so many of that Florida did not is bee’s. It is interesting what is in one region, but not in another. We are on a big biking excursion today. This is the Hiawatha Trail, it is worldwide known in Idaho. I am super excited to go to this with my husband and close friends today. Blessings.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Hi Pit. Thanks for being along with us. WordPress is funny as you know. Sometimes we post something that looks good but folks will let us know it didn’t project out the same way. This template we use works differently between the 5 different categories. We’ll have to try using a darker text on next one. Thanks to folks like you we are discovering the work arounds to improve the output. Be safe out there!

    Liked by 2 people

  9. Its amazing how close they end up being. We are so very careful because they are always where you least expect them to be and they hide so well. Thank God for telephoto lenses, lol. Seeing your images of butterflies has led us to start capturing them on camera. Inspiration comes from each other so please keep inspiring us.

    Liked by 2 people

  11. Thanks Lisa for your encouragement. Its amazing what one encounters out there on the trail. When we began hiking and biking around here we’d see the signs for gators, bears, snakes and panther. We’d smile but these signs are real. Just recently we encountered our first Florida Panther. They are real and big. Be careful out there as we know you are. Those bears are big in that region.

    Liked by 2 people

  15. I did enjoy the pictures, they’re great!
    P,S,: For me it’s difficult to read the text. I’m not quite sure as I have a slight red/green deficiency, but for me it looks like light(er) grey text on a dark(er) grey background, and that is not enough contrast for my eyes. My work-around: I highlight/mark the text, and then I can read it easily.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. I used to live in Orlando for 10 years always hoped I would see one. Call me crazy, I think they are incredible creatures. Just like how I have lived here in Washington state all my life mostly except those 10 years, and have never encountered a Bear. I camp, hike, and mountain bike Bear territory too. Great post!

    Liked by 1 person

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