After we left the cruise ship we picked up a rental car then made a quick stop in the Everglades to check out the gators at Gator Park. We arrived there with enough time to check out the baby alligators before the feeding show started. These little gator babies were so still that they seriously looked like little toy alligators all thrown in together. There were coin operated food dispensers near their enclosure, so we bought some, tossed it in and they went absolutely wild. It was really a strange sight to see! They had them separated into the different ages...these two were the smallest two sizes, I believe. The ones on the left were probably a foot long, the others were maybe eight or nine inches.
We got to the feeding area/breeding pond just in time for the show. All the gators knew what was going to happen so they were all slowly creeping up out of the water. It was surprising how many of them there were! They would just walk all over each other too...stepping on the bodies, tails and faces of the other alligators without any hesitation. The feeding was really neat to see, but I only caught about 23% of it. You see, the feeder guy had big buckets of rats that he was feeding them. And me, I don't do so well with vermin of any nature. I just kept my eyes elsewhere and relied on Rob to tell me when it was okay to look. Big baby, I know. On our way to the feeding show we came across this huge alligator skin that was on display. Yeah, it looks big in the first picture, but in the second picture you can compare it to Rob and then it seems even bigger! Seriously, that was a big ol' gator! His name was Grandpa.
We came across another stuffed gator or two along the way. Oh, and there was a live alligator that they'd restrained his chompers and you could have your picture taken while sitting on his back. Crazy, I know...but there were plenty of people doing it. I have to admit, I was a little tempted (just a little), but Rob was looking out for me and kept me safe...you know, on the other side of the fence, with all the other sane people. ☺
The feeder guy was luring the alligators up on the fence and even got a few to climb up it with all feet. He had them jumping for their snacks too. It's amazing how much air they can catch! There were several alligators that were missing partial or full limbs as well as tails. Apparently things get pretty violent out there! As we were heading towards the exit we saw a few geese (or maybe they were swan?? I am glad that my brothers don't really read this blog. They'd be ashamed that I cannot differentiate between a goose or a swan!) and I foolishly thought that they'd be safer than the alligators we'd just observed. Well, they weren't. One of those vicious little birds attacked me. Seriously, it did. It reached it's long neck through the fence and bit my leg...then it kept following me around and taunting me until we left. Good thing Jordan wasn't around or that little birdie would have been dinner to someone. ☺
2 comments:
That bird would have ended up in the bird freezer if your bros had been there... still love the stories about your brothers. :)
And gold star for Rob for not posing with the alligators. As for the rats, I would have thought you would have been happy that they were being eaten. That means there are that many fewer rats in this world.
GOOSE
Post a Comment