Can You See Me?

[Chris Calohan II]

Everyone thinks alligators are easy to see, and in the right environs they are. However, when they are in a nesting mood, they tend to find areas close enough to the water, but also in a decently camouflaged environment. This little lady has been hanging out around this area for the last couple of weeks, enough to give suggestion as to where she will nest. And how do I know it is a female....I don't other than the one hanging with her is another two to three feet longer and much broader around the middle girth.

Can You See Me?: Chris Calohan​

 

[Asher Kelman]

Everyone thinks alligators are easy to see, and in the right environs they are. However, when they are in a nesting mood, they tend to find areas close enough to the water, but also in a decently camouflaged environment. This little lady has been hanging out around this area for the last couple of weeks, enough to give suggestion as to where she will nest. And how do I know it is a female....I don't other than the one hanging with her is another two to three feet longer and much broader around the middle girth.

Can You See Me?: Chris Calohan​

Excellent deduction and photograph. Lots of nice detail on her belly. Someone told me these creature don't die of old age but only of some eventual catastrophe.

Asher

 

[Chris Calohan II]

That's true about the dying of old age. This one is estimated to be 30 years old. There's a big old boy over in the "no one gets to go here" area of the park whose estimated age is 55 and is reputed to be in the 14-16 foot range, close to a 1,000 lbs. Keeps the deer population down. The one shown is about 10 feet long.

 

[Asher Kelman]

That's true about the dying of old age. This one is estimated to be 30 years old. There's a big old boy over in the "no one gets to go here" area of the park whose estimated age is 55 and is reputed to be in the 14-16 foot range, close to a 1,000 lbs. Keeps the deer population down. The one shown is about 10 feet long.

I think what limits them is the need for more food as they get larger. Eventually, there'll come a time when there's simply not enough prey, each day, in the range of the animal for it to survive. So they will die either of starvation or a disease.

Any luck photographing her mate?

Asher

 

[Maggie Terlecki]

What an amazing creature and very detailed photograph but terrifying if you ask me. Look at that mouth. Ouch! Are you saying she is not gated in? Were you not afraid to be near?

 

[Andy brown]

Great shot (again) Chris.
I'm interested in the life span you talk of.
I saw an amazing documentary about salt water crocodiles in the Northern Territory (Tom Dinning country folks) of Australia.
Australia has two types of Crocs, Johnson River crocodiles (freshies, as in fresh water crocs) and Saltwater Crocodiles.

I've swum with freshies, no big deal, just little fellas of about 6, maybe 8 feet long and fairly shy.

Saltwater crocs are the ones found throughout the world's tropical waters and are ernormous and not shy, they kill and injure people fairly regularly, usually a couple of deaths in Aus each year.

The documentary was following the fortunes of a big old croc in Northern Australia, they freely move into fresh water and can live there indefinitely. Northern Australia has two very distinct wet and dry seasons, basically flood or drought and not much in between.
This croc ate well during the wet season, you know, lots of big fish and plenty of water birds.
Towards the end of the dry season, the waterhole dried up, fish and birdlife disappeared (and of course it's extremely hot).

The big old croc was barely fazed, it simply buried itself in the last of the mud until it was completely dry and waited and waited and waited for many, many weeks until finally the rains came again the cycle started over.

I don't think starvation kills many crocs or alligators.
And also sure I've heard that they can live well over a hundred years (and grow to 30 feet long)!


Such a good shot Chris.

 

[Chris Calohan II]

I never put myself in a position where I can't make a quick exit or have a climbable tree nearby...while they are fast, and faster than most people ever realize, they do tend to telegraph their movements, so if you keep your attention on them and not on trying to make the great composition of the day, you're pretty safe. Still, 12-15 feet is as close as I'll get in the wild unless they have babies, then it's 20-25 feet and a lot more glass.

We had some tourists the other day out at the state park who thought it would be just so cool to have their children stand by the alligator and have their picture taken. Fortunately for them, I was with a friend who is a retired SWAT commander and he literally restrained both the father and mother until the rangers could get here. It was quite a melee for a few minutes. They just didn't get it. There are signs clearly posted telling visitors these are wild and quite dangerous animals, yet every year we have a touron (moron tourists) who endangers themselves or their kids doing the same kind of action. Just the other day, two little ones were bitten by raccoons because mommy thought it would be cute to have a picture of their kids feeding them. Now, they get to undergo the rabies treatment because they have no clue which one bit the kids. You can't protect or regulate against stupid.

 

[Jarmo Juntunen]

We had some tourists the other day out at the state park who thought it would be just so cool to have their children stand by the alligator and have their picture taken. Fortunately for them, I was with a friend who is a retired SWAT commander and he literally restrained both the father and mother until the rangers could get here. It was quite a melee for a few minutes. They just didn't get it. There are signs clearly posted telling visitors these are wild and quite dangerous animals, yet every year we have a touron (moron tourists) who endangers themselves or their kids doing the same kind of action. Just the other day, two little ones were bitten by raccoons because mommy thought it would be cute to have a picture of their kids feeding them. Now, they get to undergo the rabies treatment because they have no clue which one bit the kids. You can't protect or regulate against stupid.

I believe that's called Darwinism. Thank God for Darwinism!

 

[Chris Calohan II]

I believe that's called Darwinism. Thank God for Darwinism!

ME TOO, Jarmo!

 

[Don Cohen]

Thank God for Darwinism!

I see what you did there! Love it!



And Chris - as others have indicated, this is a great shot.

We saw some alligators 'bellowing' at the Anhinga Trail down in the Everglades a few years back - a very impressive, primitive sounding thing to experience!

 

[Pao Dolina]

Beautiful!