Alligators 🐊 in the wild… Big CYPRESS National Preserve ~ Florida USA 🇺🇸

Hi all 👋🏻

I want to share today with you all, my “wild Alligator captures while driving along the #Big #Cypress #National #Preserve” and all the details that I saw.
Are you joining me? 😊 I promise they don’t bite here… 😉

All 13 photographs are taken with my ‘late’ Canon eos 550D with 18 - 135 mm lens in September 2018 on our road trip through #Florida USA 🇺🇸 😎
I will follow the time stamp so it looks like you are seeing what I saw… as if you were there with me 😊

Let me tell and show you what I saw:

As we were driving along the road. We noticed we could stop to rest somewhere. Unknowingly we arrived at a look out for Alligators 🐊

So we had a look around if we could see some. And boy… we were lucky. 🤩
We saw 2 beautiful rather large alligators 🐊 😎
Right in the middle of this water. Next to the road.
No fence or anything. So they could easily walk up into the vegetation and cross the road. So we were very carefully and watched where we walked. 😊

First I saw one of them rather close by and us appearing made him or her swim away…

I captured it going to the other side of the water.

And away it goes.

Most wild animals are more afraid of us than we of them 😎😉 but still caution is needed.

The sign we saw a little bit back mentions the following.

It states:
”Imagine alligator relatives dating back to the days of dinosaurs, over 150 million years ago. 'Gators' today still look similar to their 50 foot long relatives. Present day American alligators can grow to over 15 feet and may weigh up to 1,000 pounds.
During the twentieth century, American alligators were almost hunted to extinction. Due to increased protection, however, alligator numbers have rebounded. Limited gator hunts are legally permitted in parts of Florida, and throughout the state, they number over one million.”

Further it says also:

”Watch Wildlife Responsibly!
The thrill of watching a wild animal in its native surroundings is exciting and awe inspiring. While visiting Big Cypress National Preserve, or any other natural area, please remember:
• All wildlife is wild and unpredictable. Stay a safe distance from any wild animal.
• View wildlife with respect. How you behave can save their life and yours. Never feed or harass wildlife.
• All plants and animals within national preserve areas are protected; it is illegal to collect any plants or wildlife without special permits.”

Let’s have a look further at what I saw:

Suddenly I saw another gator pop up as the first one swims in his direction.

We take a look here at the other one, on the other side of this water.

It is keeping an eye on us 😉😎

The first one turned around when it sees we are not there to disturb them.

And both are swimming towards us. Here some time has passed.

I can have a good look at them 😊 such cool creatures… 🐊🐊

Both of them watch what we are doing.

Swimming closer by…

And after some time… I guess it’s his or hers favourite spot. It is so calm and stops moving… just hanging in the water. It was at peace with our presence.

Wasn’t that cool to see the alligators so close by, next to the road… in the WILD.
Yep, I really enjoyed observing them.
Hope you aren’t afraid of them…

And that’s all for today, join me in my next posts for more #adventures, #stories and #photographs 😎👋🏻 Even some #artworks once in a while will come by 🎨
Thank you so much for looking, and reading. And if you liked my post, an upvote or re-blog is always welcome 🙏🏻

Any questions or comments, let me know. Always happy to help.

Have a great day all 😎
Grtz Jackie

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!pinmapple 26.11415 lat -81.04922 long Alligators in the wild… Big CYPRESS National Preserve ~ Florida USA 🇺🇸 d3scr