Gator Sighting

Apparently there are people in New Orleans who did not hear or read about the alligator in Audubon Park ( I'm not talking about the zoo area). One, estimated at four feet long (but look at the picture: Doesnt it seem bigger?), likes to wade in the man-made lagoon by the island of the million white-feathered swamp birds. Nearby, turtles sunbathe on a log, all lined up in a row.

Walking with the dog one morning, I stopped to photograph the birds and their high-rise condo-like nests sprinkled across the branches. It was a challenge to point and click with my right hand while Reddy tugged the leash held in my left hand. A four year-old boy crept up behind me and asked, "Do you see him?" And I asked "Who?" and he said "The alligator..." I asked him "Where?", and he pointed across the water towards the turtles sunbathing on the log.

I told him I did not have my contacts in so I could barely see a thing. "You see," I told him. "It's too early to put in my contacts, but if I take a picture in the general direction of the alligator I bet I could see it in the photograph." He didnt say anything.

So I took this picture, and wow, there it is! I read about it in the paper. The article said that the alligator has been elusive, and they have not been able to catch it. They even tried to dangle a baby over the water to lure it over. But they think the alligator isnt too hungry due to all the bread thrown to the ducks. So he does not pose too much of a threat...

I asked the little boy if he cared to see the photograph of the alligator on the lcd screen of my new digital canon. He said, "No, ma'am" and scooted off.