Thursday, January 05, 2012

A, alligators all around


They say that the distance in inches between an alligator's eyes and its nostrils is equal to the length of the whole animal in feet. This behemoth hangs out by the fishing dock in Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge feeding on discarded bait fish and who knows what else. My best guess is 14 inches nose to eyes, which would make it not unheard-of big but certainly exciting-to-canoe-past big.

It is amazing to think such an invulnerable top predator (at least within the refuge) started out nearby as a scared little snack for herons like this:

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