A photo walk down a dike trail here.

This was a day that started out hot, sunny, and slow. As usual the Alligators gave me some subjects.

Below is looking down the side of a dike, on the left, that separates two large marshes. Each being hundreds of acres, and no count of how many Alligators. This is also the domain of the bigger Alligators, smaller ones stay out further since they are not safe here.

You can walk the left side dike until the trail leads into the far woods. It can be tricky since the Alligators do cross, grass has bugs, and ‘other critters’.

Above (click to enlarge) you can see multiple gators out in the open, both in the water and on the banks. Note; while proofing I enlarged and then zoomed around. Found 4 more,

Part of the dike was clear and I could see down the trail so I walked on down, Ellen watching and shooting on the other side.

I wanted something to photograph so I came up with a plan; walk halfway down and take a single photograph of each Alligator that I could. Some might not be in the clear, those I skipped. Shooting a single image of each gives an idea of just how many you meet along the way. Like the first one above.

Above was still at the very beginning. Look past the big guy sleeping and you can the spot I took the Dike photograph from.

Next this one slipped off the bank into the water towards me (and the deeper canal).

Some will completely ignore me, others like this one wonder why I’m there, and the most interesting…panic because I scared them. They ‘belly flop’ into the water for safety. An 800 pound splash is loud.

This one above was swimming past but spotted me and came to a slow stop. I think he was originally heading for the dike I was standing on. They can wait for a person to go by and then quickly climb over the dike down to the second marsh on the other side.

Looking down the side towards the water this one was just walking on to the bank. This is about 12 feet (3.6 meters) down the slope. It made a clear image because the grasses and reeds had been cut back recently for repair work. Dikes take a beating with this weather.

Looking back where I had just walked I noticed another sleeping body. The tall grass had hid the bottom there. Which is why it’s best to walk when there has been at least some cutting.

This guy was a jumper, a loud splash. He saw me long before I knew he was there. I heard him and kept walking knowing he would swim towards the deeper middle. Alligators move to the middle of the canal for safety. They dive under and swim quickly away if  uncomfortable.

As I was getting to about the mid way point two heads floated up and around, doing nothing at all.

Just as I was ready to turn back I was getting the ‘curious look’. With the exception of this shot all my attention had been on my right hand side, as I walked down using the first photo here as my guide for this.

Ha… I paid no attention to anything on the left.

This article is a bit long so I may or may not publish the return walk. It’s really just more of the same. Fun though.

Thanks for tagging along.