I saw in the paper about an Alligator Walk at the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve not too far from Shawshank, so I rustled up the troops and off we went. Smack dab in the heart of the city, this place has been around a long long time, and it used to be all by itself, but the people and the city have been encroaching on it for some time. So, we arrive, plunk down our $3.00 entry fee and wait a while for the walking tour to begin. Ms. Norah has joined us so she had some fun at the kiddie corner.
Our guide was fast, but he told us we could leave the pack and wander about on our own. For the entrance fee you can stay all day. He did have a couple bits of information that were fascinating. One was the old one about picking up a baby bird would be abandoned by its mother. He told us that was false, that birds have virtually no smell. The other was to not allow your children to wander off and try to pet a gator.
Alligators? Ooooh, I wanna go.
The place is primeval. All types of native flora and fauna (how many times can you put those words into a sentence?). Before the walk we had to endure one of those soup line sermons instructing us about gators and letting kids wander off into the underbrush. I think, as our guide prattles on in a mind-numbingly monotone, Darwin was correct.
Gee, guess which one is our guide?
The landscape truly is breathtaking.
Our guide was fast, but he told us we could leave the pack and wander about on our own. For the entrance fee you can stay all day. He did have a couple bits of information that were fascinating. One was the old one about picking up a baby bird would be abandoned by its mother. He told us that was false, that birds have virtually no smell. The other was to not allow your children to wander off and try to pet a gator.
A local sculptor used stainless steel to fashion this cormorant. His work is spread all over the park. Nice work, and pleasant to see these in various places.
Some bird preening in the branches.
That is Lake Maggiore and that white building on the other shore is the Tropicana, home of the Tampa Bay Rays.
A cormorant sunning itself.
Uh, yeah, that's a gator all right.
Tomorrow we'll conclude our walk at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, and yes, to answer your question, we saw more gators and you'll see them. You really didn't think I'd miss an opportunity to leave you anxious and thirsty for more, did you? And not just a small mini or middling gator, a big gator...huge. You'll see.
and yet once again you test my pateince? I want to see a GATOR!
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