When I was growing up, I went to visit my grandparents in Florida each year. They lived on a golf course by hole 9, where there also was a small pond. My grandma always warned me to stay away from the pond because of the alligator. Of course, that had a counter effect on me as I’d try to go see it if I could. I never did find that fabeled alligator.
Alligators were much more rare back then. When I went to Florida again in 2008, I thought I might see an alligator in Everglades National Park. I didn’t expect to see literally hundreds of them over the course of a week.
I didn’t even have to go to Everglades to find the first one. The first one I saw on the trip was at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, back in the days when shuttles were still taking off there. I looked into a pond at the visitor center and there was a small alligator hanging out.
On the bus tour out to the launch pad, I saw several more alligators along the side of the road. They were literally everywhere.
Once I reached Everglades a few days later, the sightings only grew more numerous. One of their favorite wintering pools is at the Anhinga Trail – there they congregate by the hundreds at this dry season-hangout. Some were in the water, while others were sunning themselves – it was a pleasant February day.
Later, I saw an alligator from an overlook in a drier part of the Everglades. Finally, I saw several as we drove south through the Everglades, including one that was sitting in the water right next to where I stopped to look for alligators.
None of them were fazed by my presence.
Finally, when I visited the keys, I was surprised to see one down there on Big Pine Key because I didn’t realize there was fresh water. Apparently, the Blue Hole has fresh water on the top with saltier water further down, which makes it habitable for alligators.
Since that trip, I have seen many more alligators, most noticeably at Blue Spring State Park, where I have taken three river boat cruises. The boats get up close to the gators. I even saw a gator nest where eggs are laid.
It’s clear these animals have rebounded from their once-endangered status – today, there are over 1 million in Florida alone. I’ve seen far more than I expected, and am starting to believe what folks say about there being an alligator in every freshwater pond in Florida. Perhaps that should be revised to say several alligators in each freshwater pond in Florida.