The Harbor 'Gator...

You probably already know that photography is not allowed in the polling place. That makes it difficult to come up with a post for me, having worked from 6 am until 8 pm as a precinct inspector on election day. That is, until we looked out the window during a lull in the voting.

We saw an alligator in the little harbor serving the gated community where I worked yesterday. We were told that this guy seems to be a regular and shows up about the same time every day.

I didn't have my camera with me, but I had my trusty iPhone - and there were no voters in the precinct room - so I hightailed it outside to catch a couple of pictures. Not the highest quality, unfortunately, but it's better than the usual photos of the Loch Ness Monster, right? (Ok. Not much better. wink.)

We all agreed that this 'gator is about six feet long. That's not huge, but even a six footer is still impressive. Alas, I didn't spend much time outside during the day and I'm told the weather was great.

After taking these pictures, I got back to work and, while I made it home by 8 pm,  I was too tired to go into the studio at the close of my day. I'll be back there today to continue efforts on my current commission. I'm hoping to finish that work this week. Photographs will follow. I've had enough of alligators for a while!

Weekend Visitor...

Usually, we get a little heads-up before company comes to visit, but Mother Nature doesn't always give advance notice.

Late last week, Handsome was out working in the yard in anticipation of the rainy weekend that never materialized. He came in the house at one point and asked me to escort him back to the pond. I could tell what to expect without him telling me. I've come to recognize "that look". I told Tag to wait in the Holidome. Look closely at the first photograph, and you'll see what we saw sunning in the tall grass.

I went back out to the pond on my own Sunday afternoon to take more photos to share with you today. The gator came down out of it sunny resting spot right toward me. It didn't seem in the least bit afraid of me. (Come to think of it, why would it?)

We were told when we first came to live in Florida that you can estimate the length of an alligator by trying to estimate the distance between it's eyes and the tip of it's nose. By that criteria, this gator is between 5 1/2' - 7' long.  That was confirmed when we saw it out of the water. It's probably the largest one we've ever had in our pond.

This one isn't too shy, either. As I stood on the shore of our pond (taking care to have a safe escape route), it headed right toward me. I was about five feet from the water's edge, and it was about five feet out into the water. 

My favorite cypress tree was right next to where I was standing, so I had to also be careful not to trip over the tree's knees. There are quite a few of them sticking up out of the ground, and working their way right down into the water. That's plenty close enough for me!

We usually give these guests a few days to move on. If they aren't gone within a week, we contact FL Fish and Wildlife to have them taken out of our pond. You know the old saying about house guests being like fish? (After a week, they both start to stink.) That's true, especially for alligators!

Florida alligators are fascinating to watch, but they're dangerous, too. Don't worry about the corgi. He's almost never allowed in the back yard - even when we are positive it's safe. He's certainly not going to run around back there with an alligator in the pond! I'll be hoping that this guy moves on in the next day or so, and we'll all rest easier.