One of the first shots of an Alligator for the day. It was still early to try longer distance shots so I went with opportunities right along the sides of the dikes.

In this image there were no overhanging trees so the low sun highlighted all this gators scales and scute’s. Each spike on an alligator’s back is called a scute. Inside the scute is a bone that helps protect the alligator from attack and regulate heat.