Close encounters of the gator kind in Daydreaming on the Porch
- June 8, 2022, 5:45 a.m.
- |
- Public
At a nearby Nature preserve, it can definitely get a bit close to Nature at times. There are alligators in the ponds along the path I was walking a couple of days ago. Normally I don’t see them. No one was around, and I had the place to myself on a beautiful late Spring day with a nice breeze off the surrounding marshes and river. All in all, a perfect day.
I tried out for the first time my portable folding chair that weighs about two pounds. I set it up at my favorite spot on that path along the former rice ponds. It was so relaxing out there with that very nice breeze.
When I packed up to leave about a half hour later, what do I see but a 6 ft. alligator on the path 20 feet from where I had been sitting, unbeknownst to me.
Oh Gee, I’d have to gingerly walk past him with about five feet of clearance, or else have to walk a half mile the other way to reconnect with the path back to the parking lot. Foolishly, since I thought he looked asleep and mellowed out in the sun, I very slowly, and with mounting trepidation, walked past him, uneventfully, thank goodness, but thinking to myself, “This is a dumb thing to do,” but I had just the day before watched a guy with his pet gator all cuddly together.
Needless to say, I won’t be doing that again. When I had gotten past him I stopped to look back, and he was moving toward the water, his jaws opening in what I presumed was a sleepy yawn. “Good boy! Just stay right where you are while I get the heck out of here!”
This is yet another cautionary tale of my most recent Nature mis/adventure, but such is my life in the wilds.
Here he is:
And
Last updated June 08, 2022
A Pedestrian Wandering ⋅ June 08, 2022
Yikes!
Oswego A Pedestrian Wandering ⋅ June 09, 2022
And how!!
Deleted user ⋅ June 08, 2022
He had probably just eaten and was digesting the last person who walked past.
Oswego Deleted user ⋅ June 08, 2022
My lucky day!!😅🥹
music & dogs & wine Deleted user ⋅ June 08, 2022
LMAO!
Newzlady ⋅ June 08, 2022
Oh hell, I’d have needed more clearance than that!
Telstar ⋅ June 08, 2022
How fast can alligators move?
I'd be scared if they can move quickly.
music & dogs & wine ⋅ June 08, 2022
OMG you are BRAVE!!! A guy with a pet gator?? Really? They can be tamed to be pets? They sure are adorable when they are babies, but I think I would have to pass on keeping one as a pet!
ConnieK ⋅ June 09, 2022
I had one lunge out of the water, snapping his jaws 3 or 4 feet away. He was after a fish but it scared me to death! 5 feet is too close.
Oswego ConnieK ⋅ June 09, 2022
Yes, in looking back I should not have done that, but I am stubborn and I had my invisible gator force field activated! 🥹
ConnieK Oswego ⋅ June 10, 2022
https://news.yahoo.com/watch-alligator-race-across-florida-172152733.html
Kristi1971 ⋅ June 12, 2022
Oh my goodness, he's actually cute! But yeah, distance from those jaws is a good thing. :)