Way back in 1984 when I was here last, we went to a little
out of the way “hole in the wall” place called Gatorland. It wasn’t very big and featured more than a
few alligators. Other than the ‘gator
show they put on, it wasn’t really much to see and photograph. I think we might have spent 45 minutes there
and being generous at that.
Fast forward to 2019.
Since I am doing a major (pardon the pun) walk at the Kennedy Space
Center tomorrow, I figured I’d do an easy little walk today and take a few
pictures of alligators. When I arrived
in the Uber, I could see that they had a shiny new building. But I was not prepared for what I saw when I
got inside.
The site has expanded from a tiny little show, to a 20-acre
site, in the middle of two different swamps.
They are now an alligator rescue and breeding facility. They also feature a plethora of wild,
non-captive birds. There is a rookery
for the birds to nest and hatch their young, but there is nothing preventing
them from flying away.
The ponds are kept stocked with fish, for the birds and
gators to feed on, plus there are feeding programs that go on. There is a boardwalk, that meanders through
the swamps, with numerous warnings about live snakes. The gators are pretty much confined. I ran into two young ladies who warned me of
snakes on the path ahead, but I went all the way through, without seeing
them. They must have slithered off.
There are Diamondback rattlesnakes, water moccasins and
Cotton Mouths. As well as the occasional
Boa Constrictors. Those are foreign and
an invasive species that they are trying to eliminate from Florida. The other snakes are native to here. They believe the Boas are former pets that
people have released into the wild and they have thrived and taken over. I even saw a couple of Florida Panthers in a
cage, but they were sleepy. They look
just like our own cougars and are in fact a sub-species of the cougar family.
Again from 1984, everywhere you went in Florida, in every body
of water you would see flocks of pink Flamingos. I have not seen one in the week I have been
here, well, at least not until today.
There is a large flock that hangs out in one of the ponds at
Gatorland. I went crazy, making sure I got
lots of shots of these colourful and special birds.
Another animal I saw, were a couple of giant tortoises. They were very active, and I almost think
they walk faster than I do. There were
little kids allowed into the pen who were able to pet and feed them. The kids were instructed to not touch the
face area, and to feed them they were given a long stick with the food on the
end. It was cool, watching this one
little girl petting and loving this tortoise.
Her Mom told me she loves anything to do with turtles.
The whole compound has been family owned since it opened in
the early 70’s and remains so today. They
are recognized as the world’s largest crocodilian refuge. Yes, they do have salt water and albino crocodiles
here as well. They are quite a bit
different and different looking than an alligator. They say that crocs are generally docile, but
that they kill more people than any other crocodilian species. Mainly because their biggest habitat is the
Nile River, and people tend to swim and play in the river, putting them right
into the crocs habitat and acting like prey.
Finally, after all that walking, I took a ride on the
mini-railroad that goes around the perimeter of the park. There are several stops throughout the park
where you can get off and on. The day
pass is only $2.00 for the railway and it’s only $13 to get into
Gatorland. This is by far the cheapest
attraction and entertainment I have been in since arriving. On to the space center tomorrow.
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