Alligators…

We spent 2 weeks on the St Johns River aboard our “little” trawler…Slow Motion. And that is just what we do…cruise in slow motion…normally around 5-6 mph. At this speed ..you wouldn’t think we’d miss many gators…but ..surprisingly we do. So you can imagine how many the rest of the boaters see while cruising at 20 mph or faster.

We took a side trip down Dunn’s Creek. It’s a very narrow..twisting and turning creek, with hairpin corners. The water on these turns is much deeper than the rest of the creek. In one spot it is 50ft….now…that is deep when you realize most of the lakes are 10-12 ft deep…and shallower. Lake George and Lake Monroe have marked channels because they are so shallow.

Jim spotted this cute little gator so we looked for it on our way back up the river.

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I was so intent on getting pictures of it…..watch as we move on by. There are 4 turtles sunning with him.

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But then we get a bit farther down stream…..the angle of the picture has changed….you can still see one of the turtles….but look at the logs behind him. 2 gators….to the L of them is the tail of a much larger alligator. As you can see….the tail is larger than any of the others ….and on another log behind it….is a smaller gator.  There are at least 4 other alligators in this photo…we never saw any of them until I downloaded this to the computer. 022cs

We still can’t believe we missed the big one. Jim was busy getting in as close as he could without getting into limbs etc under the water…and I was zoomed in on this cute little smiling one.

4 comments:

  1. I'm stunned and find this incredible..but you do this yourself! I'd have a hay day!! ha

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  2. Carol, Thank you for stopping by my blog 'window on nature'. I looked at both your blogs and loved them. I enjoy seeing all the things we do NOT have in PA... gators, manatee, moorhens and over on your other blog Painted buntings!! Yeah! I'll be returning to see what's going on in FL with you. Have a great day!

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  3. Man that's a lot of gators in that last pic.

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  4. Hi Carol! It was so nice of you to stop by for a visit in my 'Backyard'. Thank you for the nice comment about Nikki. She is growing so fast! I watch the Dog Whisperer on a regular basis, but thanks for the reminder. I always wish he could make a visit at my home and help out, hehe.
    What a difference in lifestyle you have in the south. I suppose I could compaare my blackbears to your gators.
    Enjoy and be careful!!

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