Tag: #dangerous

A Good Gator

In my opinion, a good gator is a motionless gator. I always try to keep my distance from an alligator, especially one that is watching me, because I have seen how lightening fast they move, when they bolt. This gator was floating in the fresh water of the Everglades. You can see its leg dangling in the water.

Alligator floating with legs dangling in Shark Valley, Everglades National Park. He seemed to be watching me while I photographed him with a zoom lens from at least 15 feet away. Thankfully, it did not feel threatened or make a move toward me.

Watch Your Step, Heron

Dear Beautiful Heron, Please watch your step as you tiptoe silently through the long grasses and past the purple thistle. Do you remember those baby alligators that you like to eat? When they grow up, those big alligators might take a bite out of you. If they catch you, they will eat you whole, feathers and all.

Great Blue Heron tiptoes slowly and silently through the tall grasses and the thistle in the Everglades, March 2021.

Also silently lurking nearby in the grass is this large alligator. If he is hungry, the Great Blue Heron could be his next meal. Yikes! The food chain is merciless.

American Alligator, lying in wait for its next meal near the water where wading birds feed. Shark Valley, Everglades National Park, March 2021.

Alligator Nursery

“Alligator Nursery” are two words you don’t normally see together! This mother American Alligator owns this territory — has been lounging on this ledge for years, so it is no surprise that she has made this private corner the nursery for her babies. How many baby alligators can you spot in this photograph?

#alligator, #reptile, #wildlife, #mother, #babies, #gator, #corkscrew, #florida, #thingstodo, #corkscrewswampsanctuary, #wildlife, #wildlifephotography, #nikon, #tamron, #howmany #dangerous, #territory
Mother Alligator with at least 9 babies at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Naples FL, February 2020.

Mother gator tries to protect her young from predators, which include adult male alligators. Dad gator doesn’t hesitate to snack on the children.

This close-up of Mom Gator and four baby gators reminds me of the advice given to human mothers of newborns, “When baby sleeps, you should sleep.”

#alligator, #gator, #wildlife, #dangerous, #mother, #babies, #wildlifephotography, #nikon, #tamron, #florida, #corkscrew, #corkscrewswampsanctuary, #thingstodo, #naples, #territory
Shhh… Naptime for mother alligator and babies on Lettuce Lake at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.
Collier County, Naples FL 2020. This image was made from a safe distance with a 600mm lens.

When visiting Florida, keep your distance from any alligator you see and don’t walk close to the edge of any lake or pond, for alligators are dangerous to humans and their pets. If the alligator is hungry, it will strike very fast without warning.

Black Bear in Grand Teton NP

While Black Bears are not considered as dangerous as Grizzly Bears, they are still no match for a human, so we need to keep our distance and take care not to attract or provoke them. I spotted this bear quite a way up the hillside above the road, and I was able to use my 400mm lens, steadied with a tripod, to capture this photograph. (I was not as close to it as it appears.)

#bear, #grandtetonnationalpark, #grandtetons, #nationalpark, #wildlife, #sony, #RRS, #tripod, #staysafe, #keepyourdistance
Black bear grazing in Grand Teton National Park, observing a cluster of excited humans with cameras.

I have read that the Black Bear’s eyesight and hearing are better than a humans. Its sense of smell is WAY better, seven times better than that of a dog. Signs warn national park visitors not to leave food in a cooler inside a car, for a black bear might smell it and destroy the car to reach the food. Food lockers are available, but you better hope that everyone locks the locker well, or everybody’s supplies will be gone.

A human is no match for the speed and the strength of a bear. Take your photo, and then get back in the car and move on!

Bear and Berries

It’s not too hard to spot a black bear by the side of the road in Grand Teton National Park. They are gorging on berries and getting ready for hibernation season. I used my 100-400mm Sony lens on my Sony aIIr7 mirrorless camera, mounted on a  tripod to capture this close-up.

One just has to keep a safe distance, because bears move very fast despite their heavy weight and they and kill a human quickly if they want to.  Photographers and hikers are urged to carry bear repellent spray to use in case a bear comes at you. The grizzlies are considered more dangerous than the black bears (which come in black, brown, cinnamon and golden colors), but you don’t want to startle a black bear or find yourself between a mother and her cub. Rangers (“wildlife management’) try to manage the enthusiastic humans who would otherwise get too close. These rangers should be called “tourist management.”

#blackbear, #berries, #wildlife, #bear, #bears. #grandtetonnationalpark, #nationalpark, #trees, #fall, #september, #hiibernation
This black bear ignored human spectators while harvesting berries in Grand Teton National Park along Moose Wilson Road.

See the earrings and necklace on the bear (tags)? This bear was trapped, tagged and released, so rangers can monitor him.

Wary Alligator

While this gator casts a wary glance at me, I am quite wary of him too, and I keep a respectful distance. On a recent trip to Shark Valley in Everglades National Park, I learned a few new facts about the American Alligator. If he chases you, don’t run serpentine, like the wive’s tale says. Run in a straight line, as fast as you can for alligators are very quick for just long enough to catch you. (They can run at 20 miles per hour.)  The jaws too are powerful (2900 pounds of force recorded), and no match for human self-defense.

#gator, #alligator, #americanalligtor, #everglades, #nationalpark, #florida, #sharkvalley, #dangerous,
Keep your distance from the American alligator. While humans are not its favorite food, it is both fast and powerful.

The 70mm lens on my Sony a2r7 camera makes it appear that I am close to the gator than I really am. (“Kids, don’t try this at home.”) Park rangers suggest a distance of at least 15 feet. Watch behind you, too. There are hundreds of alligators in the Everglades, some hidden underwater, Any fresh water watering hole in Florida could contain one.

Gators rule

Biking Shark Valley in the Everglades yesterday, I saw at least 200 large and menacing alligators. Another biker reflected, “I don’t know how the wading birds coexist with their predators here.” I agree. In fact, I am amazed that the tourist fatalities are not more common. I had to alert a chatty, unaware lady that this gator was walking toward her, only about six feet away. Moments later, another woman posed for a photo a few feet from another gator, ignoring the 5 meter rule from the National Park Service. Not me, I use my 200 mm lens and constantly keep a 360 degree watch.

#alligator, #lookout, #everglades, #florida, #gatoronthemove, #sharkvalley, #nikond800, #nikon, #wildlife, #nature
When the American alligator moves toward prey, it is lightening fast. Keep your distance. Shark Valley, Everglades National Park.