A large gator here sprawled out along old reeds and cane in Lodge Pond, Donnelley, ACE Basin. The pond is named for the old hunting lodge that sits on a ridge looking over the large marshes. The water level has been raised here for a long time changing the shape of the ponds and the plants that grow there.
The constant is the Alligators. Theres no official counts of them, they climb around the dikes and move between the salt and fresh water marshes.
When it’s quiet and hot you can usually find a few of these to photograph. You never go home empty handed.
Well Ted, your “You never go home empty handed” immediately triggered a little smile, but I’ll leave it at that. 😄
The reflections are beautiful, but what really stands out is the size of that alligator. Without a clear point of reference in the background it’s hard to judge, but I’d guess it’s around 3 metres (10 feet) long – perhaps even longer. That’s an impressive animal !
And yes, I smiled too.
Good guess on size with no reference. If you look at the size of their jowls, under neck, big chin is big gator. Also how wide is his head. Wide head means huge, back up.
Trick… if you have some kind of reference, estimate the distance between tip of the nose to forehead/brow in inches. If it looks to be 6 inches he is 6 feet, 8 inches is 8 feet. Obviously a guesstimate, angles could be different, etc. But still a simple rule.
Gator’s done lost his bite. Now he’s just a reptile dysfunction.