9.30.2007

A LOG-IN-A-BOG BLOG


American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
Location: Everglades
Photos: © 2007 Jeffrey Berger

Like icebergs, there is more to a submerged gator than meets the eye. So how big is this one, you ask? Introducing Swampcracker’s First Law of Gator Measurement:

Since every inch of jaw is equivalent to a foot of gator, estimate the distance from the tip of the snout to the eye sockets in inches and translate into in feet. For this gator, ten inches from eyes to snout means a total estimated length of ten feet.

Despite having a fierce reputation, alligators are harmless to humans until they reach 8 feet.  However, you should NEVER FEED a gator. Once accustomed to handouts from humans, they become a nuisance and must be sacrificed.  Remember: "A fed gator is a dead gator.”

7 comments:

chumly said...

Great Gator. Looks like it is silver. Thanks for the visit I liked the ferris wheel comment.

Anonymous said...

i am rather glad i do not live in an area inhabited by these majestic and intimidating creatures. i fear that i would urinate in my trousers from terror, perceiving myself as prey.

it is my good fortune to live in a region where i am more likely to be confronted by a creature like this one.

Anisha Zaveri said...

I don't know much about photography but I enjoyed your blog :)

Swampcracker said...

r@d@r, is that a garden slug? What a beauty! If birds could drool.

Swampcracker said...

Hi Ann. Thanks for visiting from far, far away. Would anyone on your side of the planet know if Swampcracker's First Law also applies to crocodiles?

Leila Abu-Saba said...

Hey there, are you swampcracker? Thanks for dropping by my blog, Dove's Eye View. I loved your handle, since I am descended on my mother's side from Virginia mountain crackers and proud of it, too. You ought to see my great-grandfather in this picture we have, hands on the reins of a giant draft horse hitched to a plow. I am only half an Ay-rab, the other half is Scots-Irish Virginia cracker (with some genteel Georgia thrown in) Go crackers!

These photos are gorgeous. May God preserve and restore the natural beauty of the South...

Papa Frank said...

I just got done watching a show on Discovery about the Crocs of Costa Rica. Marvelous creatures. They're so solitude and serene and yet lethal and ever present.