Get Any Closer and You'd Be Lunch!

Saturday started out like any other Saturday in a new area... looking for some place to explore.   We left our apartment with the idea of driving to a wildlife refuge and driving through looking at birds and maybe seeing an alligator.    We were in for a shift in our thinking.   Yes, we could drive in the refuge but we could also park the car and walk along paths with no fences and the ability to get close to the water animals.
We parked our car and began to stroll out along a marshy wetland.   Our subject of viewing was the water fowl we could see from the road.   White herons, ducks and another black bird who fans its wings were along the water and we had to see if we could see them closer.   While we did get close to these birds, we also got close to another animal:   alligator.   The first one was about eight feet on the other side of the bank. Ten yards up the path, was a thicker larger alligator who was sleeping with one eye open and he was on our side of the river bank.    Immediately, my mind started searching for details on how fast alligators run, do they zig-zag and what is a safe distance and do they like small children or adults?

Needless to say, we reined in Sabrina and proceeded with caution.   In fact, we actually walked carefully back to the car to the next viewing point.

At the next viewing point, we were fascinated with the water birds.   There were some black birds with pointy red bills that were fishing along with ducks.    White herons, white ibis and numerous birds we could not identify were catching their meals in front of us.

Video of the last gator.

The remaining drive through the park was a continual stop, walk, take photos.   So much to see and so little time.   We were in awe with the wildlife and how close we could get to it.   (Some alligators were too close to let Sabrina out of the car.)   The last alligator we saw in the park was super close to the road and Randy was able to get close up photos...without a high powered zoom lens!

On line Randy read that there are manatees, gators, 200 species of birds and other critters!   We will be back to see what we can see next time!