Friends and enemies - more from Gatorland

You would wonder why these birds would sit so close to these large beasts. They are really just waiting to try and get some of the food that is fed to the alligators.

This egret must have thought he was standing on a log instead of an alligator's tail.


I'm sure this great blue heron could have flown away if the alligators actually moved. Although that alligator behind him sure was smiling at him.

Occasionally a bird gets too close to a hungry alligator. I heard the splashes and looked over to see this alligator swimming around with his prize lunch.

There are two main things you see at Gatorland - lots of big alligators and big wild water birds. For the most of time they seem to co-habitat well together. The birds hang around the ponds at Gatorland to catch crumbs of the food being fed to the alligators and because there is lots of fish in the ponds for them to eat. The alligators keep away raccoons that would eat the bird eggs. I did happen to catch nature happening while I was there when an alligator must have been hungry and a bird got lazy and too close. It's a sad circle of life.