Alligators have been in the press a lot lately with either attacks or sightings of a very large one. Yes, they are everywhere here. If there’s a small body of water, there a big chance there is one in there even though you can’t see it. I grew up coming to the Tampa Bay area to visit my grandparents. I never saw any wild alligators but I knew about them. We spent most of our time on the beaches anyway. My first time seeing one in the wild was at work when I first moved to Tampa. I looked out the window and one was sitting on the grass in the parking lot. Now I’ve gotten use to seeing them. I rarely see them move though. When I’m at Gatorland taking pictures of the wild baby birds, the alligators are active and swim around make their grunting noises. I’m up on an elevated fenced in boardwalk so I’m not too concerned. But look at those happy grins, don’t you just want to pet one??

Circle of Life.  Sometimes the birds get to close or to comfortable being too close and they become lunch. Hey, gators gotta eat too.