Is That An Alligator?

For Day 2 of my Solo Vacation, I visited the Myakka River State Park outside of Sarasota, Florida.  It's the biggest state park in Florida and has over 4,000 alligators living in it.  It also has deer, wild pigs, some small cats (bobcats), turtles, water snakes, and a LOT of different kinds of birds!


This was the first time I've seen an alligator in the wild.  And I wasn't disappointed.  This 9 foot female alligator was soaking up the sun just feet from the visitor center!  All they had was a little, orange cone warning that she was there.

She's got one eye open, looking at me.

I took a tour on a big fan boat.  We saw a lot more gators and tons of birds including Little Blue Heron, Cormorant, Ibis, and many more.

My parting shot is a picture of another gator swimming away.

Take away lesson:  Do NOT go swimming in fresh water lakes in Florida!!!