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Easter Sunday Hazel and I made the trek to the Juniper Creek Game lands in the hopes of seeing the deep blue wild roadside False Indigo (I think) blooming. My Baptisia are similar and they are shining now. Anyway, the wildflowers are just starting so after crawling down Egypt Rd looking for orchids, I received a text from a concerned neighborhood Gator Watch citizen that 2 alligators were either fighting or mating in his backyard pond. Knowing this could be my baby Cyclops, I immediately aborted my quest and was homeward bound. Cyclops lost about 6 inches of her beautiful banded tail in an altercation with a similar sized female a few years ago. My friend reported that the 2 gators in question seemed to be equally matched. My heart and mind raced the entire ride home. I walked to my friend 's backyard and spied the 2 subjects still in combat. Finally, one Gator emerged on the far shore and the other remained submerged for an extended amount of time. As I made my way to the other bank, my heart sinking, I was hoping against hope that the victor was indeed my Baby Cyclops. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see any Alligator injured but my Baby and I go back 9 yrs now to just before Hurricane Michael hit. We have quite the history ...  My heart literally caught in my throat and then finally settled itself as I spied that old familiar pattern of dots and stripes on her severely chopped off tail. I could recognize that appendage in any lineup, even in my sleep. I was rejoiced! My Baby Gator seemed none the worse for wear for her altercation. Staying low and constantly repeating my particular manta for her to reassure her it was just me, I finally settled in the mud at the pond edge to get some real shots. As if it weren't bad enough that she was pressured out of her overwintering pond by heavy equipment clearing 2 side by side lots, her new home has been invaded by an interloping Alligator. She calmly tolerated my presence all the while watching the waters ahead.  The next thing I knew, she rose and entered the water with intention and then stopped ... She never turns her back on me unless she's swimming away so this behavior momentarily confused me.  It was that second, I realized her intentions. She raised her head and arched her tail out of the water in a classic bellowing stance more common to males of the species. Bellows serve 2 distinct purposes - to alert the opposite sex to breeding opportunities and to threaten the same sex to beware of their size and status in that particular territory.  My Baby bellowing / Females are not nearly as loud or dramatic as males in their posturing but the water did dance a bit along her back. I think she got her point across to her competitor though. If you're lucky enough to be in the presence of a large male bellowing you can literally feel the vibration in the air. The most spectacular aspect to me, however, is the water dancing on top of his back like a mini-Bellagio fountain accompanying his music! I pulled up to pick up some supper @ an old familiar Gator Haunt that has been vacant since last summer. I don't even get out to look anymore because it took a year for Scrappy to move in after my Fatback Gator lost his life. I have it on good authority that my precious hissy tripod got so stressed during his capture that it caused his demise. And maybe that was a blessing in disguise for my old boy as relocation probably wouldn't have worked well for Fatback with his disability. Having to learn a new territory and avoiding larger resident gators would have definitely been challenging for him. Relocation is not a great vacation for Nuisance Alligators. It wasn't long after Scrappy moved in that he was also taken away. These previous 2 tenants were removed by NCWRC as Nuisance Alligators because guess why?? People were feeding them. That old adage of “A fed Gator is a Dead Gator” holds so true. I will keep repeating my Mantra DON'T FEED ALLIGATORS as long as I live and breathe. It habituates them to humans and causes them to lose their natural fears and then they associate humans with food. Not a good combination for anyone involved. Ok. Rant over for now and back to my story...  I actually thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when my brain registered a familiar arrow shaped head above the water's surface just beyond the bulkhead. Laughing, I hopped out of the truck, camera ready, already talking to my new friend. It had a surreal appearance with its dark hide contrasting to the baked on yellow pollen. It neither retreated nor approached as I walked up. A non-habitated Alligator would have quickly submerged and beat a hasty retreat with its legs tucked by its side and powerful tail sinuously propelling it forward only to resurface a considerable distance away to swing around and keep a wary side eye on me. No such case here so this one I am confident will be removed as well. In the meantime, I will visit and photograph this beautiful specimen and teach the workers in the establishment the hows of cohabitation with this remarkable creature. I will ask them to advocate for this modern day Dinosaur and repeat my Mantra in the hopes that even one will listen… 
I have dubbed this critter Bumble because of the checkered black and yellow that reminded me of a bumble bee. Hours of basking in the warm spring sun has seemingly fire kilned the lighter hues into the normally dark hide that even water hasn't been able to wash off. Sound familiar? Just like on my truck, this ubiquitous sulfur colored dust will need a good scrubbing or torrential downpour to remove!  New Alligator Overload... 
Bumble has the most beautiful soft amber eyes. As you already know I am totally obsessed with Alligator eyes...  Till Later My Bumble Gator - I can only hope against hope that the ignorance of my species doesn't endanger your survival in your newly chosen habitat.  I call March the transition month down here but it's also the time I consistently start to see Alligators emerging from Brumation and staying out. Well, maybe not so much in the early days but definitely as it winds down. Finally winter’s stranglehold on the Swamp begins to loosen up with the veiled promise that we won't see plummeting temps again for another year. Yesterday proved to be a banner day for Gator Gazing. It was all the more special as my fellow Alligator Alliance friends made the long trip down from near Winston-Salem for the first time in 2025 to do some Gatortat cleaning with me and for a long awaited visit between friends. Lisa and JC arrived at my house bearing gifts for my babies - their favorites - Freeze dried Beef Lung and Chicken Hearts! It was a free for all feast for everyone plus a lotta hugs and puppy kisses were exchanged. Mackenzie got to meet my dear friends for the first time and Emmylou even let Lisa pet her. I don't know who was the happiest, Lisa or JC or me or Hazel or Pinky! We finally broke away to begin our trek to hopefully spot some Gators in the 70 degree temps we were blessed with on this Saturday. On our first stop we were rewarded with a view of 2 what I call twofers (2 footers), a single 3 footer and a much larger (possibly Mama) that we viewed momentarily for as soon as she spotted us she slipped into the safety of the water. Off to a great start! Admittedly we were all disappointed to miss our favorite Gator Beau / Popeye and his Olive this special day but they normally show up later. Unfortunately the whipping SE winds churned the pond's surface further discouraging their appearances. Maybe next time... 
 After I had walked the dam and JC expertly scanned the far side of the pond with his binoculars to no avail, we tore ourselves away from our favorite spots to travel to Southport. We were elated to see another scaley scuted friend on the edge of a familiar pond. No pics because it deftly slid underwater on our approach. This behavior is a good sign that this gator has not been fed. Onto the business at hand - clean up. I'm happy to report that we 3 gathered 2 regulation size trash bags full of assorted glass and plastic bottles, paper, plastic bags a bucket and Styrofoam detritus from a roadside ditch and small creek. To my elation, I zeroed in on a 4 footer lying haphazardly near a culvert! I quickly handed off my graspers to JC and got down to business!!
 Bingo!!! 
This is Baby Charlie that Lisa and JC have watched grow up and I was introduced to 2 yrs ago (Note: Baby Charlie was featured in an article “Alligator Alliance Does Gator Patrol” featured on LifeinBrunswickCounty.com). I love his dark bronze coloration. He resides in the muckiest murkiest of waters and his hide reflects that.
Eye Teefs...
Till Later My Baby Charlie Gator...  After January's deep dive into the freezer almost the entire month, I certainly didn't expect I'd be introducing a new to me Gator friend to my Congregation today. Meet Spike. And did you know a collection of Alligators is called a Congregation? Right on up there with a Murder of Crows if you ask me... Anyhow, I have never seen a Gator with such pointy and spiculated Scutes as this one. Check the risers out just behind the critter's head! This solid 6 footer was fat and sassy emerging from Brumation on this late January day in the upper 60's. I have to give thanks to my Hawkeyed friend Gator Dan Webb for spotting it and immediately notifying me of its presence. Minutes later my Shotgun Rider and I hit the road hoping against hope that it would still be out basking and exposing its solar panels or scutes to collect energy reserves in that warm winter sun. The coloration is odd because of the dried orange clay mud mask and body toner present from coming out from its Gator Hole where it's been whiling away the cold in a state of suspended animation. Alligators are the masters of biofeedback. They can slow their heart rates to about 3 beats per minute, complimented by one breath in the same time frame to decrease energy consumption in the colder temps. As on this unusually warm winter's day, the sun coaxed it out to bask and thaw and to even drink water for a few hours. Gators don't eat during Brumation. These short trysts surfacing are reserved for refilling their energy reservoirs and occasionally sipping. In order to digest food much higher sustainable temps in the upper 70's/80’s are required. In fact, if an Alligator ate and the temps dropped they could actually become septic and die from the inactivity in their gut. I find it absolutely amazing how these creatures that evolved so many millions of years ago have survived in the same fashion so successfully. We have much more to learn from these scaley scuted reptiles, especially in the areas of Immunity, Cancer research, Biofeedback mechanisms and even simple adaptability and Survivalist skills. Long Live My Gators!!  Spike's portfolio... Sadly, I only spent about 10 minutes with this magnificent specimen because I left my Hazel Mae (always within sight) in my truck parked off the road. I never stressed this animal getting my shots in. Not a muscle twitched or hiss was emitted as I circled behind it. It did eventually open its right mud crusted eye momentarily but that was it. Because of its close proximity to the water's edge I figured my presence would push it to submerge. Nope! It could've cared less about me. I kept my distance praying I was getting some good footage because I'm basically shooting blind watching the Gator and not the screen. I can see the format of my pics but I have to focus on the animal for my safety's sake. I have to say I was actually thrilled once I started editing the fruits of my labor. My excitement was off the chain as it had been about 6 weeks since I last spotted my favorite quarry. Different views accentuating the unique Scutes this critter sports.
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