My last posts have shared wildlife elegance and cuteness with birds, a Monarch and a chipmunk.
Now let’s go for some danger in a three-part series. All while in the comfort of your chair. 🙂
And for me, safely from the other side of the canals when I photographed these this past winter in Florida.
American Alligator in habitat
American Alligators are considered adults at about 6 feet long and grow up to about 10 feet for females and 15 feet for males, and weighing 600 to 1,000 lbs. In the wild, they are estimated to live 35-50 years.
“Big ‘Ole Fella”
“Lounging Louie”
“You wanna judge my laziness?”
Where the waters are deep, you can find alligators ‘just hanging around’ in the afternoons. It sure looks comfortable!
American Alligator sunning
While they sun, I’ve seen small fish feed off an alligator’s tail.
Fish feeding off an Alligator’s tail
For sure, the fish didn’t feed near the alligator’s head, or they might be a snack!
Fish feeding off an Alligator’s tail
And finally, I did come across this alligator that WAS on my side of the canal, along the dirt road I was traveling. S/he never moved. What a beauty! I took a photo with my wide angle lens.
American Alligator
And another with my zoom lens.
American Alligator
A Fact: Alligator teeth are actually not sharp for tearing but rounded for grabbing and holding. For the kill, it is their crushing jaw with a biting strength of 2,125 pounds per square inch that does the work – enough to bite through steel.
ALWAYS respect alligators. Stay a safe distance. With 1.2 million alligators in Florida alone, officials there constantly remind people to never harass or feed them and report nuisance alligators to the FWC for capture and relocation if possible.
Watch for my next post, “Alligators Part 2: Close-Ups”!
