The Great Alligator Hunt

On Friday, we had to have the refrigerator in our 5th wheel replaced, which meant we were without a home while the work was being done.  That meant we had to find something else to do that our dog, Maggie, could do with us too.  If you've seen my earlier posts, you know I have seen all sorts of wildlife here in Florida - most of it in my own backyard, so to speak, at the RV park we're staying at in Juno Beach.  But the one thing we have not  seen is the famous Florida alligator.  So the hunt was on!

Hubby had it on good authority (someone he works with) that we could see alligators trapped in the lock at Lake Okeechobee, so that's where we headed.

We saw a flock of Black Vultures enjoying their breakfast alongside the road,

and a couple wild turkeys crossed the road in front of us - adding to my list of wildlife I've seen while in Florida!

I took another picture of the plantation house I wrote about in an earlier post - the one with big NO TRESPASSING signs out front.  They were all decked out for Memorial Day.  Hubby offered to stay in the truck while I rang the doorbell and asked for a tour since I want to see inside so bad.  Uh, no thank you.

We finally arrived at Lake Okeechobee to find that the lake level was so low that the locks weren't really needed.  They only had one lock gate closed, so -

no alligators!

But as we were examining the lock -

a catamaran arrived wanting to move from the lake into the waterway.

We got to see the gate open to allow the boat to pass through.

We said "hi" to the people on the boat as they went through the open gate.

They were quickly through and on their way, but no alligators!

As we headed back to the truck, Hubby thought he saw something in the water in a spillway area next to the lock.

We watched the water closely for a good half hour.

Then - up he (or she) came!

He was very unconcerned about our excited whispers.

We couldn't really see his full length, but Hubby estimated he was 4 - 6 feet long.

We finally got to see our alligator so now I can check something else off my list of things to see while we're in Florida.  I haven't seen a manatee yet!