Alligators in Florida - November 2013

Alligators were easy to spot when we were in Florida in November. The biggest ones were at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. They loll on the banks of the waterways. It’s easy to image that they are smiling to lull their prey into a fall sense of security. In reality they have eaten recently and are not likely to move much from their comfortable spot.

In a small ditch next to the parking lot of the Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex, there was a small alligator. At first his eyes were closed but as more people walked by his place, his eyes slowly opened. These animals have an ancient look about them…and the eyes fit with the rest of their appearance. There is an emptiness about the eyes; how is alligator consciousness different (or similar) to our own?

Sometimes an alligator looks particularly well feed. Doesn’t the middle of the large one above look particularly rounded? I wonder what he ate.