Wednesday April 6th 2022

It was another warm day with high humidity and wind out of the south. The clouds were thick enough to hide the sun more often than they allow the sunshine to reach the ground. The temperature peaked around ninety degrees. The cold front with the potential for severe weather arrives tomorrow.

Perhaps it was the heat and humidity or just my mood, but it was hard to get motivated today. I spent extra time finishing my breakfast coffee and catching up on my internet reading. My quasi plan to make a grocery run was abandoned for today. I started my first walk of the day well after the noon hour. The alligators and wading birds may have been in a similar mood. They were few and far between today. I think the absence of continues bright sun kept the alligators off the river bank and in the more constant temperature of the river water.

It is interesting to listen to people’s reactions to the alligators they see. In particular they can’t seem to get a handle on size. I am clearly not an alligator expert, but I have picked up a few facts from trusted sources over the years. What I would consider average gators are often exclaimed as big or huge by other people. When a truly big gator is in view they often declare it’s length to be eight or nine feet. In my view most of the full grown gators in the river are seven to nine feet long and some of the big ones are near twelve feet long. The small, young ones, don’t seem to hang out in the river with the big ones. This is the start of mating season, so the big males won’t tolerate the smaller males well. They can get aggressive.