--
--
--
-ONE TWO THREE FOUR
IN THIS VIDEO 216MB
Alligators although amphibious (not AMPHIBIANS) are
in the water most of the time when they are active. Therefore it
is worthy of note when they are on land,
especially
when they are doing more than just absorbing solar energy. Here
is yet another page of terrestrial alligator antics.
06/11/2006--Some
readers may recall the lower water levels experienced by BBSP in
June. All of the the images below are frame captures from video
clips I shot during this time. I've
upgraded the video, and they are all in this video 216 mb. I was watching a large alligator
foraging in what remained in Pilant Slough just West of the
Spillway Bridge. (see ONE, TWO below).
As I was filming, I heard a "SLAP!" sound behind me. This would be
across the trail, in Pilant Lake. I turned, looked, and
immediately swiveled the camera around. A Great Blue Heron
had
caught a good-sized bowfin (latin name amia calva) ! (see
THREE, FOUR, below). I quietly moved the camcorder and tripod
about 3 steps and began filming.
-------
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
IN
THIS VIDEO 216MB
-
FIVE
The Great Blue Heron dropped the bowfin, and to my amazement, the
bowfin was still very much alive! I was trying to take still
photos while
the camcorder was filming, so
the fish flopped almost out of view. The Heron stabbed it again,
and then neatly swallowed the fish.
(see FIVE above, and SIX
through ELEVEN, below).
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--
--
-
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
IN
THIS VIDEO 216MB
--
TEN
When the Great Blue Heron finished, I quietly returned the 3
steps to my original position to watch the large alligator.
The alligator almost
immediately left the slough and headed up towards the
Spillway Trail. (see TWELVE below). It stopped
among the plants at the edge
of the trail to rest. I set my camera to be ready for his trail
crossing. Suddenly, just beyond the alligator, and on
the opposite side of the water, a large feral hog came out of the
trees with a group of six or eight piglets (see THIRTEEN, below). Hardly daring to move,
I started filming the hog. I'd never
been able to see one this close while I had camera! The adult hog grunted
once--which sent the piglets scurrying back to the trees--and went
down to the water's
edge. There, it began
nosing about in the water, and eating some of the plants (see
FOURTEEN, below). Meanwhile, the alligator (which I hadn't forgotten, since it was
at least 30 feet closer to me than the hog
was) did something which I thought was very odd. Right after the hog disturbed
the water, the alligator turned around, faced the hog (which was
at LEAST 30 feet away from
it) and gaped
(see FIFTEEN below). (This is also the RICKUBISCAM image.)
--
--
--
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
IN
THIS VIDEO 216MB
- -
FIFTEEN
The oblivious hog
continued about its business, and finally laid down to wallow in
the shallow water.(see SIXTEEN below) The alligator got up and walked back to the slough.
This is a large
alligator, and it took a number of steps to return to the
slough. (see SEVENTEEN,
EIGHTEEN below). When the alligator entered the water, it went
straight towards the hog. (see NINETEEN,
TWENTY, below).
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--
--
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
-
TWENTY
The low amount of water prevented the alligator from being
totally submerged, and the hog became aware of its approach.
The hog stood up and went to
land. As the alligator still got closer,
the hog turned and looked at it. There was a brief
moment where it seemed they
might be nose-to-nose, and also obscured by the overhanging trees.
There was NO way I dared move
anything for fear of defusing whatever this situation was. But,
the hog turned away and returned to the safety of the trees.
(see TWENTYONE through
TWENTYFIVE below).
I found the behavior of the
alligator mystifying, surprising, and a little alarming. This
alligator had moved well away from the water, and was going to cross the
trail. It was hidden from
view--even from a protective wild sow. Even at that distance AWAY
from the
water, disturbance at the water's edge caught the alligator's
attention. Not only that, but the alligator moved
straight back to
the water and apparently stalked this LARGE animal. If the water
had been deep enough to hide the alligator, would it have
attacked the hog if it could
have gotten close
without detection? I don't know.
-
-
-
-
TWENTYONE
TWENTYTWO
TWENTYTHREE
TWENTYFOUR
IN
THIS VIDEO 216MB
TWENTYFIVE
Not long after the hog left, the alligator left the
water again, and came up to the trail. This time, after a very
brief rest, it
gaped. I've seen alligators gape in an apparent intimidation
display
before crossing. It seems that the "temperature
regulation" gaping is
repeated over intervals with the period of time with the jaws open
getting longer while the time between gapes gets
shorter--until the mouth is held open in this "midway-open"
position. After
the gape, the alligator got up and highwalked across the trail. I
ALWAYS love seeing the highwalk! (see TWENTYSIX
through THIRTY, below).
I saw ALL of this in about 40
minutes--without moving more than three steps. Who needs
television? I was THERE!
--
--
--
TWENTYSIX
TWENTYSEVEN
TWENTYEIGHT
TWENTYNINE
WATCH
THIS CLIP (25MB) FOR TWENTYSIX THROUGH THIRTY
--
THIRTY
WHY did it take about 3 months before I
posted this?? Although these events only took about 40 minutes to
happen, it took me HOURS to edit the material, reformat it,
decide
how to present it, upload it, and lay it out. These events were
astounding, and I wanted others to be able to see them. I hope I
was able to transmit some of the wonder I
experienced. NOTE--I
upgraded the videos on 8/6/2019, and put it all into TWO video
fileS. A lot has changed with
the internet since 2006.
Go back to my main alligator page, Alligators
Go
back to my home page, Welcome
to
rickubis.com
Go
back
to the RICKUBISCAM
page.
Go
back
to the See the
World page.