Now that was unexpected!
There is a retention pond about a mile from the house with a high chain link fence running around it. I sometimes visit it in the morning when I am walking the dog. The birds seem to like it and I like to see how many species are there on any given day. This week I bicycled over with my camera. I saw a Great Blue Heron at the far end and decided to walk along the perimeter to get a better angle. That’s when I spied the gator. I have never seen an Alligator there before! With the fence in between me and him/her, I was able to get closer than I normally would (gators are very fast). Still, I erred on the side of caution and shot this with a zoom lens. This definitely supports the hypothesis that if there is fresh water in Florida, assume there is an alligator in it.
American Alligator, about 5-6’, Port St. Lucie FL
A few more images from this week around the ‘hood (Literally! All were taken a mile or less from the house). The Gopher Tortoise was outside the fence at the same retention pond. Also a first for this location.
Click on an image to view it full screen.
