American Alligator
Alligator mississippiensis
Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia. March 1978
The top photo was taken on my return to Okefenokee in 2003. The bottom photo shows a young gator from South Carolina.
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Herpetofauna - One Life's List
American Alligator Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia. March 1978 |
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The Okefenokee Swamp was the perfect place
for my first alligator. I spent eleven days canoeing through Oke as part of
a class I was taking (Swamp Ecology), and the gators were thick. One of my
tasks was to count gators; in one twelve mile stretch I counted 159!
Being the end of March, the weather was still fairly mild, and we were able to
get pretty close to some alligators with our canoes, and even slapped a few on
the tail as they went under! Sometimes at night we would canoe out into
the open 'prairies', and when we shined lights out into the darkness, the eyes
of gators would reflect back with a red glow. Occasionally a large male
gator would bellow, a deep, rumbling noise beyond description. Camped at
night on our little wooden platforms, we would fall asleep to the sound of
bullfrogs and gator bellows in a truly primeval place...
The top photo was taken on my return to Okefenokee in 2003. The bottom photo shows a young gator from South Carolina. |
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