Not for the gentle of heart

Please, exercise caution with the accompanying photos this evening.  They are quite graphic. If you are a delicate vegetarian, don't go any further.

Duck Soup

It was a day of adrenaline rushes like I haven't experienced in quite a while and I surprised myself.  R and I spent the day in the Florida wilderness, a place she has spent many a day and a place I am rapidly growing an addiction to myself.  Each time we go we stumble upon something fiercely beautiful, but today we encountered an experience the likes of which I hadn't imagined ever being witness to.  

The day began quietly, water like glass, sky blue as, well, sky, a beautiful morning.  The white pelicans were gorgeous, but elusive today.  So, we went in search of other subjects.  In our pursuit we pulled over to try to capture some shoots of a raccoon who was patrolling the water's edges, but he hid himself in the reeds and refused to pose.  His distraction though brought us to the ideal spot to photograph this creature.  

Please meet Stumpy, as we came to name him.

Stumpy had apparently just found lunch, a ring-necked duck, and was just beginning his repast when we encountered him. He was most cooperative with us and our cameras until the other tourists began to show up. 

        

He then decided to move to a quieter spot. So, we trailed him.  This happened three times.  Again, as long as it was just the two of us he was quite content to allow us to shot his dining experience.  He didn't have good manners though and played with his food for a couple of hours.  I shot over 800 shots of him and I'm sure R did so, or more.  

     

The images, now that I look at them, send shutters down my spine.  I find gators to be quite fear-inducing and don't normally go seeking them out.  At the time I wasn't the least bit scared, he did seem quite content with his mouth full and not interested in the two-leggeds some 10 feet away.  He appeared to be about 6 feet long himself, not huge at all, but then, not a baby either.  We didn't spend a great deal of time on the ground, after his first move, we chose to stay in the car and shoot.  It's a much more secure way to experience gators.

Life and death were right there, raw and uncensored. The coots swam around him and quacked happily ignoring the fate of their cousin. A water snake four times approached him and then thought better of it and turned away. The drama was quiet, brilliant and completely natural. 

My apologies if these photos offend anyone, but I did give you fair warning.  Please know that this was an experience that I will treasure and hold dear. It was near the end of our shoot that we finally noticed that Stumpy has a leg missing, hence his lovely name.  


A 3-legged gator, testament to the ferocity of life, and the persistence of the same.  What a gift from God today.


Peace,
B