“A” is for Alligator

 The Okefenokee Swamp - National Wildlife Refuge is home to more than 12,000 alligators, the largest concentration in the entire southeast. We had a blast camping at the Stephen C. Foster state park within the refuge for a few days. And boy did we see BIG alligators! 








Thought we’d try our luck at fishing so we rented a boat and after a brief alligator safety talk about not dangling fish over the side of our boat we were tootling up through the narrow canal out to the wider part of the swamp. The warm weather brought out the alligators who were trolling the waters, some on the side banks and some crisscrossing the lake. There were several people out on the water kayaking- not for me! I was thankful we had a motor and were sitting a bit higher than a kayak. Rick caught a couple of big bowfish otherwise known as mud fish and a little warhead. I caught a big bowfish too but it was so big and heavy that I freaked out thinking an alligator would try to take it off the hook so I passed my rod off to Rick and in the scuffle it broke the line and swam off. I was actually relieved and spent the rest of the time praying the fish would not find my lure appealing! Some awesome fisherman am I!







The next day we took a naturalist narrated boat tour up the swamp among the cypress trees and yes, more alligators! 











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