Some days the locals are more active than others. It’s hard to predict. I had thought warm and sunny was the answer, but half the time they would be just cooking themselves in the sun.

This morning here was a day, for no particular reason, dozens were moving around. When I see this I stick to dikes with an open view since something will come along to shoot.

Above a larger Alligator surfaced, head back, swimming slow. I expected to see a Blue Crab.

After a bit he showed off a big Catfish. Waving your food around is not a good idea here, but he is an alpha and probably gave it no thought.

Gators are not big on manners, or the etiquette of chewing with your mouth closed. Actually they don’t really chew much. Not pretty so I will not even go there.

As I’m grabbing these shots there was more going on outside the viewfinder. At the beginning I mentioned the gators being active. Some ‘active’ locals, big locals, had seen him too.

Above was one of the closer gators to the action. If gators could smile, this is one.

I plan to have at least one more post, I hope to have it finished later today. I took numerous shots, and most so far are gator backs, tails, and splashes. I’m sure there must be something decent in the batch though.

ACE Basin, South Carolina.