Leapin' Lizards

[Second Hand Pat]

I was at Gatorland yesterday practicing with my camera and got rained out. Caught this at the last show. I was so focused on the gators I forgot to get the guys in the photos.

https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7123/27157514324_a6b0231600_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/HnPmRA)DSC_4932 (https://flic.kr/p/HnPmRA) [/url]

https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7698/27491295510_1aae3a891f_c.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/129594174@N08/)DSC_4936 (https://flic.kr/p/HTj5nC)

https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7282/27735498606_65071a59e3_c.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/129594174@N08/)DSC_4939 (https://flic.kr/p/JfTFrQ) [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/129594174@N08/]

[two utes]

As always nice shots Pat.
I like that guy in the last shot, the one on the right hand side. Nice profile shot of him...pity we cant see more of him.

[Second Hand Pat]

As always nice shots Pat.
I like that guy in the last shot, the one on the right hand side. Nice profile shot of him...pity we cant see more of him.

Agreed Joe, I was using my telephoto lens I use for shooting birds and you can not be too close. I did the best I could with what I had. :p
Pat

[brewmaster15]

Agreed Joe, I was using my telephoto lens I use for shooting birds and you can not be too close. I did the best I could with what I had. :p
Pat

Sometimes Pat thats all you can do!

That place has got some big gators. Heaven help the neighbor hood if they ever escape. Trained to associate humans with food is the absolute worst thing you can do with a gator. I understand the entertainment value in it, but the wildlife guy in me cringes when I see that stuff.

[Second Hand Pat]

Al, I am told the largest is about 14 feet. I heard you on the escape part. :(
Pat

[SMB2]

I wonder how many fingers those keepers have.

Al, why would the Gators leave when they get breakfast in bed?:D

[Discus-n00b]

Just do Gatorland's feeding where they let you feed them in the big pond. They slap the water a few times and it will SHOCK you how many show up and quickly. Then you proceed to go inside the pen, feed them, then turn your back to them for a picture LOL I've done it! They have some monsters there, especially their white gators in the separate pens, huge. Nice photos Pat, I enjoyed my visits there. Florida has a gator problem already. In that part of the state with so much water around already it would not surprise me if the neighborhoods surrounding aren't already flooded with them. I believe they take nuisance gators from trappers instead of killing them. Though with as many as there are in Florida, I don't think this service is quite needed atm.

[Second Hand Pat]

I wonder how many fingers those keepers have.

Al, why would the Gators leave when they get breakfast in bed?:D

Note the guys feeding the gators are wearing black gloves so hard to tell :D

[Second Hand Pat]

Just do Gatorland's feeding where they let you feed them in the big pond. They slap the water a few times and it will SHOCK you how many show up and quickly. Then you proceed to go inside the pen, feed them, then turn your back to them for a picture LOL I've done it! They have some monsters there, especially their white gators in the separate pens, huge. Nice photos Pat, I enjoyed my visits there. Florida has a gator problem already. In that part of the state with so much water around already it would not surprise me if the neighborhoods surrounding aren't already flooded with them. I believe they take nuisance gators from trappers instead of killing them. Though with as many as there are in Florida, I don't think this service is quite needed atm.

I went and saw the white gators. They are actually quite beautiful. Some of them even have blue eyes. When I find them in a good position plan on getting some photos of those guys.

Yes, there are gators everywhere. I use to freely wade in lakes etc...today not so much. I was working a Navy contract (in my working life) and had the customer in from Maine for a visit. I mentioned that before they filled their bathtubs to check for gators. Their expressions were priceless.
Pat

[Discus-n00b]

That chicken they are feeding is NASTY. It's multiple days bad at least, the smell cuts right through those gloves. Not sure how they do it daily then go home with that smell.

[brewmaster15]

Ive studied Gators through out most of Florida during my birding and biotours there. Its definetly amazing the difference in behaviors of the gators in the urban areas vs the wild areas. In wild areas like the Everglades, Ive been 20 feet from Gators as I took and pictures studied various plants. Most of the time they either ignored me or hastily left the area. I once was standing by a pond for an hour watching anhingas and didnt even notice a 10 foot gator at the shore 6 feet away as it was covered in water lettuce.

Thats not the same response I have had in other areas. Urban areas they watch you intently. Its obvious they associate you with food. ..the worst is gators in the canals where alot of people fish. Im sure they get fed.its obvious. I was photographing an osprey one time along one of those major fishing spots at alligator alley. A large gator swam up to me while I was setting up my tripod. It came within 10 feet.. watched me intently. Made me nervous. So I moved to the right 20 feet. It followed. I moved to the left...again it followed. It was so bad my wife had to watch it for me while I focused my 500 mm lens on an osprey with a bass in a tree. I have no doubt that gator had been fed before and learned the association.

Its something that happens easily with most wild animals.

Al