Alligator Gallery
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While scanning a local swamp for birds in October, I heard a splash in the water nearby. I looked down to see that I was standing only about 20 feet from this alligator.I then noticed the cause of the splashes. There was a nest between the gator and myself, and dozens of these little fellas were at the water's edge.She remained on the bank for a long time, exercising extreme patience with this would-be threat to her babies. I've always heard that a female gator will protect the nest with a vengeance. This female slowly backed into the water and showed no signs of aggression.Enough was enough and she slowly submerged, giving a thrash of her tail and then she disappeared for several minutes. At only about a foot long, these little guys will have to avoid predation from male gators, blue herons, great egrets, turtles, bass and a myriad of larger creatures that dine on hatchling alligators.This is a clear example of how alligators move in the water. With all four legs tucked tight against their body, the side-to-side action of the tail propels them forward.How many can you see in this picture? I counted nine.A discarded alligator egg at the nest site. When the young start to hatch, the female will gently remove the top layer of soil so that the hatchlings can exit the nest. The leathery egg shells are all that are left.The female gator slowly reappeared from the murky water near the nest. At approximately 8-9 feet in length, all that is visible above the surface are her nostrils and the top of her skull.This female alligator stopped for a break in the middle of the highway. When lactic acid builds up in their muscles, gators must rest for a while. She was helped out of the highway and onto the banks of a nearby lake.Another mother gator keeping close watch over her younglings. A young gator in stealth mode. Only the eyes and nostrils are unsubmerged. This gator was sunning in mid-March on a moss-covered log. The knobs or points on the back are protrusions of bone underneath the skin called "scutes". Scutes act as a sort of armor-plating to protect the alligator.They don't hang around for long when they feel threatened. This gator was approximately 8-10 feet in length, and has no natural predators in the wild. However, they still fear humans.Later, Gator!
"The Lord said to Job.... "Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishook or tie down his tongue with a rope?  Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?  Will he keep begging you for mercy?  Will he speak to you with gentle words?  Will he make an agreement with you for you to take him as your slave for life?  Can you make a pet of him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls?  Will traders barter for him?  Will they divide him up among the merchants?  Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?  If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!  Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering.  No one is fierce enough to rouse him.  Who then is able to stand against me?  Who has a claim against me that I must pay?  Everything under heaven belongs to me." ..."Who dares open the doors of his mouth, ringed about with his fearsome teeth?  His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next theat no air can pass between.  They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted."