Kissimmee Prairie Gators

See the large alligator in the photo above?

How about now?

This gator is big ... 7-8 feet, and it was up on the bank resting in tall grass when I walked up to the wetland area.

I never saw it until it jumped up on all four legs and KAFLOOSHED into the water.

It does give you pause when they do that.

Kissimmee Prairie is a "dry" prairie. The word "Dry" is a necessary adjective here in Florida, because we do have "Wet" prairies.  Both prairie types can be wet or dry seasonally, but they are labeled according to the most common conditions.
True to form, Kissimmee Prairie ("KP" for the rest of this post) was mostly dry, even though the whole state had received pretty decent rains from TS Debbie a few days before.
It's a prairie, so trees are clumped here and there, but mostly it is open wiregrass and saw palmetto as far as the eye can see.

I can just imagine this KP in peak wildflower season.

My hiking had been mostly through open, dry habitats, so I was happy when I came across a wetland area with pig frogs grunting and fish dimpling the surface.

There were gators too.

I don't think I have ever shot this rear view of a gator's head before.

I like it. 

This gator came cruising quietly up after I began my sadly deficient baby gator grunt call. It came from a long distance so I am giving credit to the sounds I was making, even if they were lacking in alligatorialaccuracy.

I had not practiced the nasal squeaky grunt baby gators emit for a long time, so don't laugh to hard at my expense when you watch the video.

(You already watched it didn't you? Cheater.)

While I was grunting this one in, (and marveling that she fell for it), there was a commotion out in the reeds.

I switched from still shots to video in time to catch a much larger, much more cranky, alligator charging towards my location.

So the video is a bit jerky ... I wasn't expecting that.

Now, some might say, "Gee, FC, you're a real gator whisperer. You just called that big mama right to ya'!"

I think the real truth may be that she was just irritated by my poor imitation of a baby gator.

You know, like that feeling you get when you hear some sports announcer idiot or a college kid on the local NPR  station mispronnounce word after word,  and you just want to smite them?

Whatever the reason, she was impressive, even at a distance.

This trip to the wide open prairie, this gator, the grainy non HD video, and some missed shots have finally pushed me over the edge and I think it's time for a new camera.

I found the sales receipt yesterday, and my super reliable Sony Cybershot DSC-H5, 12x zoom, 7.2 mp camera is 6 years old.

The time has come.