I am going to try to wrap everything up into one capture here to attempt one final time to put everyone’s fears to rest about ALLIGATORS!!! The first thing that I want to say is that they are NOT Crocodiles and in no way are as aggressive as crocodiles! Are they dangerous…you bet your booties! Are they lurking in the water just waiting for some unsuspecting soul to come along so that they can jump out of the water and eat them…I think NOT!! If that were the case then thousands of people who paddle and go boating would be in mortal danger throughout the southern states and that has just not happened. I am writing this so that I can refer people to this particular post in the future and not have to rehash things over and over! I hope I succeed!
There have been 24 fatalities total in the entire United States since they began keeping records! 23 of those fatalities have occurred in Florida while only Georgia has had a fatality! No other state including Texas has ever recorded a fatality (See footnote 1)! I in no way feel threatened while I am canoeing and taking photos! If I ever felt that they were the Big Bad ALLIGATOR then I would most definitely quit paddling and find something else to take photos of! I have had a couple of smaller 7 to 8 foot alligators swim toward me and challenge me to a part of the bayou but those few have been females with nests and they will issue a challenge to you by floating very high in the water! Once you back away from the nest they are completely satisfied and go back to lying low in the water and guarding the nest! It is purely maternal instincts at work!
Another dangerous part of the year is during mating season when the males become extremely territorial and especially if they are courting a female! I have never had one come after me and they will let you know that you are entering their territory by floating very high in the water and trying to look as large as possible! I hear people talk about alligators running into their canoes or kayaks and trying to turn them over! I think its pure bunk as I probably spend more time on the bayou than anyone except my buddy Gary! We continue to paddle the bayou on a regular basis and still have all of our limbs attached securely to our body!
People that see alligators tend to EXAGGERATE their size and that’s because they do tend to add to the length just to impress people! Gary and I estimate that the largest alligator on the bayou is 13’ in length and I will tell you that whenever you see a 13’ alligator you will definitely remember it because it is huge! When they get over 10’ they are very impressive and something to be respected! There are maybe 8 to 10 alligators on the bayou system that are in the 11 to 13 foot ranges and you well know it when you see them as well!
I just want to add that I have been paddling the bayous now for about 26 years and over a period of a year I probably average at least one trip a week if not more! That comes to over 1,300 trips on the bayou! That means that I have paddled past, around and by each and every gator out there about 1,300 times without incident! I’m going to leave out the little alligators and only focus on the larger ones and say that there are probably ten alligators in the bayou that could definitely ruin your day if they were so inclined! That would mean that I have paddled past over 13,000 alligators in my time on the bayou! You would think that there would have been at least ONE incident, but that has not been the case!
I’m not the only paddler out there and I just know that they are no threat even when you sink your canoe doing a stupid thing as I did in one instance! There are at least three alligators over 10 feet in that area where I managed to go for an unintentional swim and we managed to flounder around in the water for roughly 20 minutes before I could get the canoe up righted and us back inside and floating on the water! Very unnerving but yet we were not attacked or harmed in any way!
You always have to respect their size and not paddle close to the bank because that is a sure fire way to get run over by a behemoth if he tries to get into the water quickly! If you are between him and the water you will get squashed as he makes his way right over around and through you! When you find them lying on the bank and they allow you to come in for a close shot never and I repeat NEVER block their route to the water and ALWAYS leave them an exit path! Just because they slide into the water doesn’t mean that they are coming to rip the bottom out of your canoe and take an arm and a leg! Just be sensible! They are merely trying to get away because believe it or not they are scared of humans! I am not brave and I hope that I am not stupid and will continue to try to photograph them in their environment to the best of my ability while trying to be safe! Just remember that you are in MUCH greater danger driving down the road in your car than I am photographing the alligators!
Another Flickr friend asked me to put a disclaimer here about watching shows like Swamp People! You see quite a few angry alligators on that show but who wouldn't be angry if you had a hook in your mouth and someone was trying to take you where you didn't want to go! A much better show to get a feel for alligators is called Gator Boys and runs on The Animal Planed! It features a man named Paul Bedard and how his attitude towards alligators has changed my thinking!
I hope that this puts all of your fears and concerns to rest! I might also add that I take my grandkids out canoeing and would never put them our anyone else in danger! Rest easy and I’ll try to keep you up to date on our local lizard population!
Footnote 1 ------
Since posting this photo a death in the state of Texas has occurred and it happened on July 3, 2015 in Orange Texas! You can read the news report below but I do want to defend the alligator in this case...you can read the commentary below the link!
www.toledoblade.com/Nation/2015/07/03/Alligator-attacks-k...
It's really sad that someone lost their life but being the dim bulb in the bunch will usually get a person into trouble! You wouldn't crawl over the wall at the zoo into the lion enclosure just before feeding time and expect nothing to happen! You wouldn't go play in the middle of the freeway during rush hour and you don't go swimming in a bayou at night where a 12 foot long predator has been spotted AND where NO SWIMMING signs are posted! Alligators hunt at night and being foolish WILL get you into trouble! I want to reiterate that I DO NOT swim with them and that I go canoeing! Two different things! I will continue to treat them with respect and admire their strength and ability to adapt to their environment! Stay safe...YOU BET!!!!
Footnote 2
I might add that I was very reluctant to post this shot because of what happened in Florida and I feel so very sorry for the family!!! Alligators can become extremely dangerous and that happens when people get too close to them and begin feeding them!! They then lose their fear of man and see humans as only a food source and nothing else!! When man interferes with the natural order of things it usually doesn't work out well!!! When fed, alligators become very dangerous and aggressive when it comes to food!!! A person had better always be in tune with what the alligator is telling them by its body language and always give them their space when they demand it!!!
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All I wanted to do was do a little sunbathing and you had to come along! This is what I was concentrating on when I almost cruised right past the deer that I just posted! This particular alligator is about eleven feet long and was merely sunning himself on the bank! Just don’t get in the way when he gets ready to make his move toward the water!
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This is a shot from last week and was taken very near to where I took the close-up of my little green friend! Always enjoy running into…well encountering our lizard population on the bayou! I know that people get concerned with their presence but they are an integral part of a healthy ecosystem! This one never came up to the canoe and told me that I couldn’t take photos there any longer! I enjoy seeing them again as it means that spring will be in full swing very soon! Taken on Horsepen Bayou!
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It really is difficult to tell one alligator from the other and especially when they are mostly submerged like this but I believe that this is our resident female that we’ve affectionately named Dolly! Dolly tends to hang out in one specific part of the bayou and it is where she usually nests and where her youngsters hang out as well! There were about 4 or 5 of juvenile alligator about 15 to 18 inches long on the far side of the bayou! I like the golden tones reflected in the water and in her eye as well!
Thank you everyone for you wonderful comments and favs on the past posts! We managed 78º today but it was a bit overcast and blustery!
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My fellow bayou photographer Gary and I have been at odds for some time now with the name for this particular alligator! Gary called him Big Boy and I always referred to him as Louis! I named him Louis because we called his lady friend Dolly and it just seemed to go together like the song about Louis and Dolly! Gary states that Big Boy and Dolly go back much further that Louis and Dolly and so I know where Gary got the name! Truth be told this guy ain’t no Louis and if there is one thing that he really is it is BIG Boy! I had some time to observe him growing impatient with my presence and even issuing me threat move because he really wanted to crawl out of the water and do some sunning but not while I was around! I don’t like to exaggerate and so have estimated his length at 13’ in the past but after spending some time observing him moving around in the water I estimate that the distance between his eyes and his nose is more like 14” which would make him a 14 foot alligator! We do know that this is by far THE largest alligator on the bayou and when you see him you’ll not mistake him for any other one out there! After all is said and done I will now refer to him using Gary’s title of BIG BOY because he IS one BIG BOY!
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Tags: Nikon D7100 Nikon D7100 WanaM3 Texas Pasadena Clear Lake City water reflection eye reptile Horsepen Bayou bayou predator apex predator canoeing paddling nature wildlife gator alligator Alligator Mississippiensis NGC
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