Yesterday, Sunday, May 16, we took our coffee/tea in our insulated cups to sit on OUR BENCH, which is on the banks of the Banana River. We have done this every morning since arriving here at Patrick AFB.
As we were sitting there absorbing the quiet beauty of the BR, we saw what looked like a long log skimming the surface of the water. Every so often, we saw a portion of an oblong head with a bump which appeared to be an eye immerging from the water. We kept watching as the "log" swam by and traveled an area of approximately 400 feet. We figure the "log" was approximately 75 feet from where OUR BENCH is. The question is: Was this an alligator?
We stopped one of the camp host and asked the question, "Are there alligators in this river"? His response was, "never". He went on to explain that dolphins, which we see frequetly sitting on OUR BENCH and alligators are mortal enemies. And, dolphins will "ram" the alligators and kill them. There were no dolphins the morning we saw the "gator".
That night, we were watching local news. A man who was training for Ironman was swimming in Lake Mary which is by Orlando (about 1 - 1 1/2 hours) from here was attacked by an alligator. He stated he had been swimming in Lake Mary since he was a kid and had never seen an alligator in Lake Mary. He did escape the jaws of the alligator by hitting it on the head until the alligator released him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_River
Did we see a gator on the Banana River? YES!
5 comments:
Why didn't you get closer? When we lived at Patrick we saw dolphins all the time but never any alligator. You know the alligators look different in the South than in the North. In the South they have a big mouth and sharp teeth and in the North then look like wood floating along. I guess you will have to judge if you saw one.
So, you don't think it was a gator?
It really could have been. Let's say yeah you seen one.
Bob reminded me that they have sea cows in the Banana River. I remember the name but not what they look like. When you come to Greer we will watch the vide of Patrick and right behind our house was the BR.Bob did say he thought you could have seen a gator.
Actually, Sheryl, I think we might have see a manatee. We are going to visit a manatee refuge before we leave here. It is free!
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