ALLIGATOR at Sawgrass Lake - Photos

How thrilling!  You kept a steady hand, Rose.  My heart beat faster just thinking about your encounter.

Susan - thank you - it was a real thrill and a little scary too:)

What a great post and great pictures. This was not only interesting it was enjoyable. It is always nice when the two are together.

Well done.

Thanks, George.

All I can say is these are jus' GREAT pictures/story and thanks! I "bookmarked" this cause the pictures are so good ::)

L.H. - I'm honored:)

Wow! You see the most interesting things on your free jaunts around town Rose. An armadillo, a "bird thing" AND an alligator? What amazing pics. Isn't frugal living great? ; )

Yup, I had to send it to ya - since it's freeeee:)

P.S. Those close-up photos of the gator near and in the pond are unriveled. Well done on the composition.

Thank you so much, he was moving so fast it was hard to keep up.

What an amazing share, Rose! The photos and essay were very nicely done. Thank you for taking me along on your stroll! Happy Memorial Day to you too!  =)

Love the pictures what a great place to visit

Very cool alligator, but I really like the armadillo! I've only seen one as an adult when we were living in Texas. Or dog scared it off before my husband could see it.

That's my first aramdillo pics - I used to see them in Texas. We called them Texas Pizza - remember?

WONDERFUL!!!

Great photo essay Rose. 

 Thank you for posting your photo at Pretty Pictures.

Wow,Rose ,this was a great photo essay! I enjoyed the trip through Sawgrass Lake Park.

Excellent photo essay! Since it's hard for me to get out these days, I rely on Gatherers like you to take me places

Susan - my pleasure.:) I actually had blisters from walking:), but it was all worth it. Although the gator was wonderful for an attention getter, I loved the forest the most. I grew up near forest and to this day it is healing to my soul to go for a walk in the woods.

Wow, wow and more wows!  This is great.  Love the armadillo and that bird, it's a green heron.  Now you've seen one too! Your photo is much better than what I was able to do.  I'm featuring this wonderful photo essay, great pictures and lots of excitement.

Thanks so much for posting to Animal & Nature photos, video & posts.

Nana - thank you for the feature - I'm delighted!

Super photo essay.  I would of been shaking with delight and fear seeing the alligator.  They are so massive and soooooo so unique and ...beautiful but dangerous.

Looks like a park that would thrill you with each new turn, delightful way to spend a day.

Katherine - it was indeed a delightful way to spend the day. The gator was a benny of course, and really a tad scary.

very good job

brilliant photography

oh my gosh!  That alligator would have scared me to death

Awesome photo essay. 

Wow; fantastic! That gator is impressive. And I love Spanish Moss! :) The armadillo is so cute, too!

Looks like a great place, but be careful around those alligators. I know you're not scared of getting bitten...but think what those teeth could do to your camera!

Amanda - LOL:) - whatever happened to your icon?

The photo No. 3 could be taken right from the "Jurassic Park", only much better when it comes to colors, IMO... you're brilliant, my dear friend! :-)

Blessings and best wishes - S.

My God he had a BIG mouth!  The gator that is.  As for the armadilo....always wanted to see one of them.

Elizabeth - this was my first armadillo photo. The Lone Star Brewery in San Antonio would have Armadillo races way back when I lived there.

cool shots.  I like the armadilo picture

beautifully done. and yes, wow on that aligator. i'd be keeping an eye on that one too. these are all great shots and i like your easy style of running comentary - a fun read with intriguing photos - cool.

Wrick - thank you!

Absolutely wonderful photo essay!!!!!  Glad the alligator changed his/her mind, and Thank you for a tour of Sawgrass Lake. 

WoW Rose ~ What a GRAPHIC and INTERESTING PHOTO ESSAY!  I gave you a TEN!

The alligator definitely scared me just looking at it ~ ahahahah!

This is FEATURED in Artistic Minds® ~ http://artisticminds.gather.com.

HUGS ~

Your Friend ~ Rene

MAN!  These NEW FEATURES on Gather are GREAT!  WHEW WHO!!! 

Rene - thank you so much - I really appreciate the feature!

Rose, this is a wonderful post. The tour was just what I needed on this rainy day in southeast Florida. I particularly liked the photos with spanish moss. I working on a painting for my next book cover (entitled "Spanish Moss" but with a New Orleans setting) and your excellent photos will help me with a more authentic rendition. We have very little moss here in Palm Beach County, but New Orleans was full of it. Thanks again for the tour - and for the artistic reference material.  You should put you work in book form?     Marie Pinschmidt  http://www.paintings-prose-palmbeach.com

Marie - thank you. I'll have a look at your site. As far as the spanish moss - if you liked what you saw here - then you'll love part II. I'm calling it enchanted forest, but it's all about the spanish moss. I don't know why but it made me think of Midnight in the Garden of Evil. 

Nana beat me to it! Definitely a green heron! There's an absolutely GORGEOUS artistic interpretation of a green heron done by one of the people that runs a Sonoma County birding site online... You've gotta see it!

http://www.americanbirdguide.com/wordpress/?p=18

Jean - I knew you'd be in the know.:) You are so good at this. I will try to learn at least the names of those that come in front of my lens. So that I know next time.

Thanks for the reference - I'll go check it out. I photographed the weirdest bird today at the beach - hope I can find out what he is.

I think I may have been there before - the boardwalk looked familiar.  GREAT shots ... it was a blast from the past for me.  I lived in Gainesville, FL for almost ten years so I've seen a fair share of gators at the University of FL "gators" campus - but this was one amazing photo shoot.

And the wild flowers you did catch were beautiful!

Jan - yes, a friend of mine just came back from Gainesville with some great gator shots. that campus has to be something.

I've been to other parks in Florida which had these boardwalks, St. Augustine and another near Plant City.

Great Rose!!! A ten to you! The pictures are lovely. Take great care around the water ways though. I have a friend who lost her dog to an alligator. I haven't a clue as to why she decided to take a skinny dip in this particular water way but her boyfriend certainly knew better...any-hoo, she went swimming and the dog, too. When she came back her little dog was behind her and then....he was gone. The boyfriend saw the alligator tail come up and then down....they are masters of the waterway universe.

Jeni - I've heard many a story about alligators eating small dogs. I tell you after I saw or mostly didn't see, because he was so fast. Alligators are as uncanny as I thought they would be. Masters of the waterway universe is an excellent description.

I love you photos and I would live in Florida (I have land there) if it wasn't for alligators.

Digital Diva - I have lived here for over ten years and this is the first alligator I ever saw. Granted, I don't hang out in the wild much and once I notice a beware of alligator sign I stay far away.

I'm more worried about the snakes in the ditch behind the house than an alligator, but I wasn't about to canoe on the lake when I knew there were alligator. I need distance and protection to feel safe.:)

That looks like an absolutely beautiful place.  The Spanish Moss is gorgeous.  It makes everything look enchanted.  I've never seen it up close, only in pictures. 

What a cute armadillo.

This looks like a beautiful place to spend some time.  I think the alligator was just yawning ;)  Great photos.

What wonderful pictures.  Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful, natural and scenic.

I imagine you went there to wrestle the gator because you need a new handbag.

LOL William, don't ya keep up with fashion? It's all about the shoes these days and a new skin for the laptop to match:)

Wow, I'd be very happy to have that boardwalk to run away on!

Vern - it was nice to have some distance between me and that gator.

That was a nicely crafted story. I like it when pictures do tell me one. I was wondering about the gator. Somebody told me that they are not very much interesed in people, that they get easily tame. Is this true in anybody's experience? I enjoyed seeing the picture sitting comfortably at home, but don't know what kind of response I would have metting one in person. That was pretty brave. Although my own personal fear is poisonous snakes. I never saw a wild one face to face, but they creep me out on an instinctual level, ever since I was little. Give me a gator any day, I think. LOL.

Ishamael - normally gators don't bother people, but once you start feeding them they do start thinking about you as food too.

The sign said, they will immediately shoot any alligator that looks for food from people. Alligators cannot be tamed!

Ah, thank you, you satisfied my curiosity then.

That is definetly not a wading pond.

I'm trying to play catch up here! This is a beautiful place, although I tend to want someone with me doing the "nature" things. The alligator is one of the few things I don't love about Florida...they tend to show up places that I wouldn't want to see one. I really think the Armadillo would have freaked me out too. I didn't realize they were just strolling around down there! I love Spanish Moss, "grandpa's beard" as we called it when I was a kid. It always meant we were getting close to the ocean.

Sue - thank you so much for taking the time to catch up with my nature posts. I knew you'd enjoy them:)

Great photo essay!! I'm not the gator-molesting typed, either. :) I don't mind seeing the little ones, but the big ones make me a bit uncomfortable.

Armadillos are interesting to watch but I really don't like them and they love to dig around my pool. They are so common that the dog and cats don't even pay attention to them any more.

GREAT Spanish Moss shots... and the squirrel is oh so cute.

Julie - thank you. I went back there and got the cutest ever squirrel shot, but I swear I though he was gonna jump off that tree right onto me. LOL:)

Wonderful series Rose . . . be proud of a job well done, loove these images :)

Kim - thank you for your wonderful comment!:)

Yikes! You really got some great photos though - what a beautiful place!

Thanks, Sherrie - it's a great place to go and enjoy nature. 

Wow that's one scary dude, but the park is simply gorgeous!

The walkwak reminds me of the one in Parfreys, well, the one that USED to be there. It was washed away in the flooding and never rebuilt.

Jennifer - the first time we went maybe nine years ago, the walkway was not in good condition, but they rebuilt it after one of the hurricanes a couple of years back. It did a lot of damage.

Loved this article, Rose. Beautiful gator shots!

Carolion, thank you - I was real happy with the shots, but I tell you these guys make me uneasy.

Beautiful pictures, Rose

Maria - thank you:)

Alligators sure are fascinating, but getting too close can be quite intimidating. Great photo essay Rose!

What an amazing place and it does seem enchanted with all of the wonderful wildlife and plants and even the alligator was gorgeous to look at.

Thanks for taking us along on your adventure!