Saturday, March 14, 2009

Do not pet the alligator


We took this photo at Shark Valley (west of Miami) a few years ago. The gator was laying out, enjoying the sun, just off the path where people walk and bike. I think he was a little annoyed at the gawkers crowding around.

7 comments:

cieldequimper said...

Hmmmm... I never liked these and am not changing my mind now!

~Cheryl said...

Yee-haw! Look at those teeth! There's something very fascinating about this photo.

crocrodyl said...

Wow! It looks dangerous!

Lowell said...

m_m - It IS dangerous...and we were only a couple of feet away...but there are literally hundreds of gators at Shark Valley, a national park in the Everglades...there's a 15-mile paved loop and sometimes gators are sunning themselves in the middle of the pavement. On bicycle, we very carefully go around them.

The problem is you never know if they are going to get agitated and attack. And they are very fast - I think running at about 35 mph.

There have been a few attacks at Shark Valley, but one is usually OK if you just stay clear and don't try to feed them or poke at them.

Lisa Wilson said...

Yikes! And people freaked out when I got close to a porcupine!

Julie ScottsdaleDailyPhoto.com said...

Whoa! Great shot

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

COOL PHOTO! YIKES!