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Speechless Sunday (almost)- Turtle Soup on the Menu??

By
Home Stager

Alligator

 

 

With our warmer weather comes Alligator mating season.

While we do see them during our winter, it's usually mid-morning after the sun has come out and it is warmer.  They're definitely not as active as they are now.

While always vigilant for these ancient reptiles, boaters and anyone near water are more aware of their presence during mating season.  Homeowners keep watch over their small dogs, who can be but an appetizer for alligators.

If you're alert, you can hear the male alligator as it bellows to attract a mate.   And, if you're lucky you can watch as they raise their head and tail as part of their "dance"... this is really a infrasound call to possible mates. 

A few weeks ago we all watched as an alligator decided to have some turtle soup.

alligator

We all watched for several minutes, and of course, we had to let Mother Nature play out.

I did manage to get some of it on video and I apologize for the shakiness....
it was hard trying to watch and film at the same time!

 

Posted by

Kathy Streib
Retired Home Stager
and Interior Redesign

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Comments(70)

1~Judi Barrett
Integrity Real Estate Services 116 SE AVE N, Idabel, OK 74745 - Idabel, OK
BS Ed, Integrity Real Estate Services -IDABEL OK

Kathy,

You are an amazing blogger!  I absolutely love this post.  Thanks!   We do have alligators...  not by choice, but with help they have migrated up the red river.  If someone finds one, they call the game and ranger people who come out, catch it and relocate it.. :)

May 29, 2011 10:06 AM
Kathy Schowe
California Lifestyle Realty - La Quinta, CA
La Quinta, California 760-333-8886

You are a brave one for taking that video-- I would never want to be that close to a gator!!

May 29, 2011 10:27 AM
Sharon Lord
Maracay Homes - Peoria, AZ
New Home Advisor

Kathy - I will take rattlesnakes and scorpions ANY DAY over gators!  I fit in a gator's mouth!  That one seems a little slow...which is good, because I was cheering for the turtle!  We have 6 in a pond in our atrium....

May 29, 2011 10:37 AM
Silvia Dukes PA, Broker Associate, CRS, CIPS, SRES
Tropic Shores Realty - Ich spreche Deutsch! - Spring Hill, FL
Florida Waterfront and Country Club Living

Kathy, that was quite a show!  :-)  I too am glad the turtle got away, I imagine it pleaded with the alligator "from one reptile to another"! Or maybe the alligators teeth hurt from biting on that shell although I think it was softshell turtle... :-)

May 29, 2011 10:44 AM
Marc MyWords
Slidell, LA

Choot 'Em! Great photos and video, but be careful... that alligator can run up to 30mph and hand 70-80 teeth in you before you have time to turn around. Not to mention that his jaw force is nearly 2,000 pounds per square inch... in other words, your leg would be ripped off before you felt the bite. Cheers.

May 29, 2011 11:30 AM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Mike- you learn, or hopefully you do, when you're here in Florida that alligators can be wherever there is water.  

Bill- I'd imagine you've seen your share of gators!  My husband saw crocs in the Florida Everglades along the beach where they camped.

Linda- thank you!  I wish I could have had a second camera pointed on us watching and rooting for the turtle! 

Anthony- the photographers out at Green Cay have so much patience... they'll stand forever waiting for that one great opportunity.

Sally- I've been trying to get a decent photograph of one of the alligators out there who has a really crooked jaw... and I'm wondering if that may have come from chomping down on a turtle!

Judy- we all did. It was a relatively small turtle and I thought it would easily be an appetizer for the alligator.

Stacy- it did look like that, didn't it!  I think he may have gotten bored. 

Cheryl- oh... I hope you can view it later on your laptop! Won't win any Oscars but it's interesting.

 

 

 

May 29, 2011 01:37 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Nestor and Katerina- Oh... would love to be there!!!  Can't wait to see your photographs.  I'm going to have to do some research on turtles and alligators.

Gay- I hear ya!  When I'm out there screaming for the little ones to get away, I'm always reminded that that's nature and the food chain.  Still hard to see. I cried once when a big white egret swooped down and took off with a baby moorhen.  Then you hear the cries of the mama moorhen.

Judi- thank you for your very kind words... and hey... where are you releasing those things!!! I had no idea the alligators had gone that far.  We had them down near Houston on a fishing lease we were on. 

Kathy- I am one of the biggest chickens out there... have no fear.. I was up on the boardwalk!

Sharon- no way!  I want absolutely nothing to do with snakes or scorpions.  Do you have the recluse spiders?

Silvia- I'd love to know.  Maybe he uses the turtle for dental hygiene!  Scrapes off tartar! 

Marcus- which is why I don't put my hand out of the boat and hold it over the water!!  When we first moved to FL, I remember fishing from our bass boat... I looked down into the water and saw 2 big eyes sink right by the boat.  Perhaps you heard my scream where you are!

 

May 29, 2011 01:49 PM
Rob Kittle
Kittle Real Estate - Fort Collins, CO
"We Specialize, You Benefit!" -Kittle Real Estate

Thanks for the photos Kathy, just be careful with those Alligators.

May 29, 2011 03:27 PM
Kim Inman
Mountains to Lakes Real Estate, Inc. - Harriman, TN
CRS, Broker/Owner

That is amazing...of course here in Tennessee we don't have alligators, I've never seen anything like that. I did however bungi jump over a pond with an alligator while in Florida many moons ago...so glad the cord didn't break and I ended up dinner for an alligator!

May 29, 2011 04:07 PM
Janet Jones
Just Your Style Interiors, LLC - Kihei, HI
Home Staging, Interior Redesign Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

Kathy--I was cheering for the turtle.  Glad he did not become turtle soup.  I find it amazing that you were that close to that alligator filming.  Thankfully we don't have of these in Hawaii.

May 30, 2011 12:25 AM
Harry F. D'Elia III
WEDO Real Estate and Beyond, LLC - Phoenix, AZ
Investor , Mentor, GRI, Radio, CIPS, REOs, ABR
Just think-the turtle was just the appetizer. What was the main course? You?
May 30, 2011 02:22 AM
Elyse Berman, PA
LoKation Real Estate - Boca Raton, FL
Boca Raton FL (561) 716-7824

Katht,  Congrats on your feature.  I'm very relieved I wasn't around to see this.  I don't  think my nerves could have handled it.  :)

May 30, 2011 04:36 AM
Michelle Gibson
Hansen Real Estate Group Inc. - Wellington, FL
REALTOR

Kathy - Since living in South Florida I've only seen 3 and one was dead on the side of the road.  Hopefully that number doesn't increase.

May 30, 2011 04:39 AM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Rob- Always careful.... I'm staying on the boardwalk.

Kim- now see, people tell me to be careful... I'm not bungee jumping over a lake with alligators!!!!

Janet- now that's another reason to go to Hawaii!!

Harry- LOL... well I think there are the bobcats and larger birds but... no way would I want to be his main course.

Elyse- I see I'm going to have to get you out to Green Cay!!!

Michelle- OK, you've got me beaten... I've never seen one dead on the side of the road!  Come on down to Green Cay!  Or.. Arthur R Marshall Park out 441.

May 30, 2011 08:33 AM
Evelyn Kennedy
Alain Pinel Realtors - Alameda, CA
Alameda, Real Estate, Alameda, CA

Kathy:

I live in Florida for 3 years, Orlando, and I don't remember seeing any alligators.  But when we visited Hilton Head, SC, I saw several huge gators in a pond.  They left me alone and so did I.  They were very imposing.

May 30, 2011 02:57 PM
Rebecca Gaujot, Realtor®
Lewisburg, WV
Lewisburg WV, the go to agent for all real estate

Kathy, when I was in Florida I took some photos of alligators on a grassy, sunny shoreline...but we were in a boat....so glad the turle got a way...it would be hard to get through that hard shell of the turtle.

May 31, 2011 04:48 AM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Evelyn- Hm...I lived in Orlando too and never saw them either.  I love to keep a nice healthy distance from them.

Rebecca- I have a feeling these two just enjoying playing... at least that's what I like to think.

Valerie- Thank you very much!  come on down and I'll show you some gators!!

Jun 01, 2011 09:50 AM
Debbie Walsh
SHAHAR Management - Middletown, NY
Hudson Valley NY Real Estate 845.283-3036

Wow I can't believe he gave up!

Jun 19, 2011 07:02 AM
Debbie Walsh
SHAHAR Management - Middletown, NY
Hudson Valley NY Real Estate 845.283-3036

 

debra walsh real estate

Jun 19, 2011 07:03 AM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Debra- We watched the same thing today... but this time I fear the turtle, while he got away, may have been injured.

Jun 19, 2011 09:42 AM