Out numbered, and they are much bigger. It’s probably time to back off.

I’m guessing he still has a little time to make a plan though.

This was taken as I started to lose light behind the trees. I had changed my metering and thought to get light just on the Alligator.

Surprise, it worked as planned.

Looking pretty pleased with himself. He found a nice new, clean, wooden platform and claimed it for his own.

The thing about shooting in the Lowcountry is that even on a slow day there’s an Alligator somewhere.

Some days there is an Alligator everywhere.

When you have the right spot it can be best not to shoot with a long lens. Getting wider images allows you to get a few Alligators in the same shot. There were at least 4 in the above photograph.

The shot above was all about the big guy along the bank, until the other 2 photo bombed it.

Here you can see how narrow this canal was. Both sides of the bank are visible. I took the one below a short time after since neither of us had any particular place to go. He had to swim by, I had to wait for him to go. No rush.

The last few images were captured as we walked along a dike. These Alligators were all semi-hiding and doing absolutely nothing.

So, this day I didn’t get any decent landscapes or dramatic bird images. The best I could get were a bunch of 700 pound lizards.

You can see the direction he’s heading. I was standing on the other side of this canal, photographing him. Almost never do they care one way or the other.

There was no threat here, but he swam over with purpose.

While coming over he finally slowed down.

Momentum kept his direction but by now he was already bored.

This was where he sat. Not being a deep thinker he probably didn’t know why he swam over here in the first place.

But it made for some nice ‘gator pics’.

It’s so easy to pass right by and never notice.

This one is around 2 years old. You can guess growth about 1 foot a year for the first 3 years. Not perfect math, but it does give a decent estimate.