HOT in pursuit?

Okie dokie....for the last two posts I've created a bit of suspense with mention of the reptilian creature.  Did you follow my lead?  Did you try and guess what kind it was?  Let me explain what we were doing and where we were at the time of our encounter.  I can't even recall what day of the week it was now, I'm thinking since the images are titled June 15th...well, that was the day. LOL What with all I've been doing with my genealogy research, I do know it was close to a couple of weeks ago.  It was hot and steamy, and we leave early to drive to the island in hopes of seeing a new bird here and there.  We stopped at Paradise Pond in Port Aransas on Mustang Island and walked around on the raised board walk and observation decks only to find nothing worth mentioning.  The town of Port Aransas has drained the pond while they work at getting rid of a very invasive tree...a non-native Brazilian Pepper Tree, and replacing them with tree saplings.  But, with the lack of a full pond, the birds that we do chance to see are very few.  There are two small springs that feeds just a trickling of water for the birds and other four legged creatures.  That particular day, only a youngster of a raccoon was seen at one of the natural springs.  And no sooner had I aimed my camera it scurried back off into the greenery to not be seen again. It was a cute booger that I'll give you. It didn't make a sound as it stopped to quench its thirst and then...move on. So....nothing there. We loaded our camera and binoculars back in the car and drove through the street in town that comes off the ferry and along the channel and drove to the beach to walk some along the shore. It was getting crowded and people were staking their camping areas by the time we left to go to the birding refuge....Leonabelle Birding Refuge. Now here, you have to park and then walk back into the natural reed pond a city block maybe in distance. Once through the parkway, and turning toward the water, you come upon another raised above water boardwalk. With cattail reed high on both sides of you. You walk through this for a short distance to come out in the open area where the birders are lined up with cameras, binoculars and their printed guides looking for the special bird they haven't marked off their 'to see' list. Of course once out in the open area, to the left there are some perches that are constructed in the water for the waterfowl. I have yet to go there when the cormorants are NOT there. That day it was no different. But, very few to be seen tho. As we leaned against the wooden bannisters to watch them for a while, I happened to see from the corner of my eye a dark object below me --------just a foot below my own feet!!!!!! From the boardwalk to the water's surface is about six to eight inches. Of course, I had to see what I was seeing, and looked down to my left....I whispered to Bud...."Look down, look down"!!! There, just inches away from us was this humongous alligator. I'm talking huge!!! My estimation would be about 10 to 12 feet from snout to tail tip. It was just taking its time slinking and slithering out in the more open part, away from the reed...heading toward the cormorants. And the cormorants were keeping their protective vigil on the progress of said alligator! The alligator, [there are two in the swamp here, and the city has named them...Boots and Bags as in alligator boots and alligator bag I'm assuming], made its way away from us ----headed not toward the cormorants in hot pursuit, but fled straight to another reed alcove that is shaded for that particular hour in the day to cool off I bet. We have stopped in this area for a couple of years off and on now that we have become interested in birding, and have never seen the alligators. Tho we knew there were there all the time, and once up on the observation deck about 20 feet above water you can see traces of their moving around in the muddy waters because of the 'trail' just below the water's surface. After that excitement and taking several photos....I walked ahead of Bud and tried to find some bird that I needed to cross off my list of birds to see. I found only ONE, and took more photos for my bird blog for a future post. But, I can't just leave y'all hanging here without seeing our close encounter of the natural kind.....

just inches away from me exposed feet [I wear sandals]

Enlarge 'em to get better acquainted...

before I knew it, it was no longer in the hot sun...but making its way to a cooler retreat

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June Photo Hunt Categories:

2nd ~ Taste

9th ~ Clean

16th ~ Ripple

23rd ~ Hot

30th ~ Flash