Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Swamp Things

No need to call on M. Champagne when you've got an ecologist Sson who's in pig heaven when he's out phographing nature in the raw. I tagged along and let him point out the critters well before my ancient eyebones had adapted to each new scene as the car moved slowly on the levee beside the bayou. Whenever he found a good spot, we'd stop.

Turtles. Big ones. Bigger than the turtles I found in my bathtub, yet.

Very important, those logs. For the turtles and for the G*A*T*O*R. whose vertical strips don't quite match the horizontal stripes of his perch.

I was lucky enough to photograph two more of the reptilians, both floating in the water like logs, patiently waiting for food to come a little closer. Gave me a chance to picture how beautiful bayou water can be. Especially in late spring, before the mosquitoes have matured enough to swarm one. Not a bite did I get.

Here's another inhabitant of bayou country, living on the dry land that is found near the levees between huge pools of water. The bunny was sufficiently camouflaged that it took me forever to find him in my viewfinder. I'm sure that one of those alligators would have had no big problem seeing him, however. As for the birds, I actually have enough pictures for a separate post. Real Soon Now.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

For my taste, this is the best post from you trip so far. I do love seeing the wildlife. Great shots, GJ.

Anonymous said...

Gators! You got some really great shots, Granny J.

I have some Gator teeth earrings that I bought from a Cajun artist in Abbeville. She had a fenced off area of baby gator skulls drying out in the sun. She got them from the gator "farms" that raise them for food. Kind of like catfish farms.

What an interesting world down there in Cajun Country!

~Anon in AV.

TomboCheck said...

Great pics once again GJ!

Hopefully you weren't too close to those gaters. :)

quilteddogs said...

Eeessshhh!

Anonymous said...

Evidenced by your close proximity to the Gators and that your lived to tell about it, they already had lunch.

mark

Granny J said...

steve -- wish I had seen other bayou inhabitants. There are even bears, according to knowledgeable folk.

anon av -- you certainly have got your real Cajun fixes over the years! Maybe the next time I'm in Abbeville...

tombo & mark -- doubt if I could have got too close; I'm a Big Animal & the gators would have slowly sashayed away or maybe they'd have disappeared under water as quick as a wink. No, I used my zoom, of course. Besides, I didn't want to get my feet wet!

qd -- see above comment.

smilnsigh said...

Awwww that bunnie is so cute. Much cuter than the gators. Yish...

Great photos, but... it still looks too close for me! Brave you! :-)

Mari-Nanci
'Photos-City-Mine'

Granny J said...

SnS -- Actually, I think my gator shots were taken from the car. We were a lot more concerned that the gator would disappear than that he might go after us.

 
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