This is the time of year that alligators search for food, sex, and territory. In the last few weeks I have enjoyed documenting this activity.
At the Picnic Pond parking area I saw a small gator lying in the dirt parking lot.
Later that same day while observing a canal I saw a small gator watching me from the bank. After a few minutes it decided I wasn’t a threat and walked past me to the next canal.
A week later I was having a snack in my car parked on the boat ramp road when a gator crossed the road in front of me. A few minutes later another gator came to the road edge and lay there for awhile until a passing vehicle scared it back into Lighthouse Pool.
Alligators are out and about not only in the daylight but after sunset as well.
This is why it is so important to follow the speed limit on the Refuge, especially at night. A black gator on black asphalt is not particularly visible.
Turtles are laying eggs and they cross roads to get to the sandy soil they need, as seen in this image from 2015.
Please give the wildlife a brake.