Well, we have had some cooler days but nothing in the way of cold, and it has been enough to push more gators up on the bank. The gator in these pics has a snare around his upper plate, and it looks like the poor fellow has had it for some time because the twine is digging into his snout. He did let me come to within a foot of his tail, so hopefully there is someone that works out there who is equipped to capture him and remove the rope. I don't think it would be hard to get something around his neck, like I said, he allowed me to approach very closely.
I love the tail, such a perfect machine. When you get close to them and really start to examine them, you begin to appreciate the beauty. Unfortunately, people have been feeding them out here, and this is a problem in Cocoa too, where the roads come so close to the canals. They have installed cameras out here now to try to catch and correct some of this behavior, but some of the gators have already developed an eager response to a slowing car.
A lot of the gators were up next to the road, basking in the afternoon sun. It was overcast on the way there, and we arrived close to noon, hoping to see some migratory birds, but I guess it hasn't gotten cold enough to drive them down here yet. My duck hunting friends say it has been sparse. Hopefully by next month there will be some colder days and a lot more bird traffic.
I ran in to Matt and his boys today, and he wants to do some of the bike trails out here. I am all for that; some of these trails go off into pine woods and other areas of the marsh that won't see as much traffic. We have seen bobcats, coyotes and deer from the car, so it would be nice to explore the trails.