A Visit To The Seafood Buffet
Yesterday evening I was watching this alligator that had gone over into the salt marsh in search of a meal. The alligators don’t live in salt water but they will visit on occasion if they get bored with the usual menu items available in the pond and swamp. The only thing I have never figured out was how do they know when it’s low tide in the salt marsh?
In any case, this guy must have had a craving for some fresh blue crab because he spent a good amount of time stalking around in there and did successfully find himself a few. He sure looks very satisfied and pleased with himself in that last photo, so clearly he was very happy with his evening dining choice!
He must have still been rather hungry though, because by the time I left it was dark and he was still sloshing around trying to stir up desert!
Phil Lanoue Photography 
Excellent ;0)
Thank you Jean-Paul
Guess it is possible to be crabby & happy simultaneously. Well, if you’re a gator.
He seemed to be mostly happy last and that’s a good thing. An alligator in a bad mood is no good for anybody.
Ain’t that the truth.
Absolutely
He looks quite pleased with himself in the last picture. Great stuff Phil.
Thanks a bunch Edith, glad you liked these pics.
Crab opener!
Crab crusher I think 🙂
The last one is the first of your gator photos that’s actually made me smile! And thanks for the excellent shot of the blue crab in the gator’s mouth – I’ve never actually seen a blue crab before!!
Thanks much Deb I appreciate you checking these out!
Great photos — and you’re right about that last one — he sure does look pretty happy with himself for choosing the salt marsh for dinner.
Thanks a lot David and yes he seems to have a big smile at the end there!
That is a lot of pink inside that gator’s mouth. Great timing to catch all that.
That soft pink mouth and throat was likely the last living view of many a creature.
Ohh, the looks but really dangerous and nasty, I would not meet.
Greetings from Mathilda 😉
Oh he is a very nice boy. 😉 😀
It’s a wonder his tongue doesn’t get pinched. Happiness is a blue crab…
Once those crabs get crunched they don’t have much pinch left in them.
I’m sure this boy is happy with his crab.
Excellent series of action shots, Phil!
Thanks for checking them out Gareth and glad you like them!
That gator looks mean! Looks like him and I have the same taste in food. Say seafood and I’m there!
He is just being a good old boy. 🙂 And he sure enjoys his seafood too!
Wonderful detail on the inside of an alligators mouth as well as his dinner!! Wanted to send a quick word of thanks for helping me to entertain my parents with some of your pictures when I visited them last weekend. They really enjoyed the view and seeing the birds and alligators food getting. Of course we all felt sorry for those little fish faces captured by the herons!! 🙂
Well thanks much for the kind words Judy and I’m happy everyone enjoyed the photos!
Yes we sometimes do feel bad for all the poor little fish and crabs, but so it goes in nature.
Poor little crab – no match for the proud gator (who looks like he’s beaming in your last photo)! Great series!
Yeah poor crabby had a very bad night. Our boy sure does look happy in that last pic doesn’t he?! 🙂
He is a very happy alligator: he smiles and smiles and smiles … 😉 Great pictures, Phil! ▲
He is happy because he is full of fresh crab! Nice big smile too!
He looks positively joyous! 😀 Great photos, Phil.
He looks quite pleased with himself at the end there doesn’t he?!?
Great shots with wonderful details.
Thanks Jan glad you like them!
He really is smiling, isn’t he?! What great pictures, Phil!
He is a big happy boy with a lot to smile about!
Love the look on his face in that last shot Phil. Great series!
He does look quite pleased with himself in that last photo doesn’t he?! 🙂
I didnt read the headline first and when I looked at the first picture I thought he ate a miniature helicopter 😀
It’s funny you should mention that…at one time I had thoughts of getting one of those RC helicopters with a downward facing camera and send it out over an alligator for pics. But it would probably crash and he would probably eat it so I gave up the idea. 🙂
Mr. Alligator, you can’t believe but I love you, again you have been captured so nicely… so nicely. This is great. Thank you for dear Phil, have a nice weekend, love, nia
I am so happy you like these Nia, thank you!
wonderful photography… great detail, awesome colors…
Thanks very much Guy, I appreciate it.
Getting quite an appreciation for these creatures. They definitely have their own beauty — and you capture it so well. Can’t believe you are around them so much. He looks so happy in the last photo. What a smile!
I’m happy to hear you are gaining an appreciation for these amazing creatures. They do a lot more then most people think and they are not simply savage predators that will attack anything that moves. They are often quite docile and prefer not to interact with people which for them is a smart choice.
He does look quite pleased in that last photo doesn’t he?!
He does, and rightly so. They are only doing what is natural for them.
These series that you show always amaze me. You get right into their gullet.
Thank you Emily I’m glad you enjoy the various alligator series!
Now that’s a snack. Great pix. Good question: how do they know?
Roughseas linked me over – recent floods have washed river gators downstream into the gulf – so a few have been swimming up to the beach.
Enjoyed touring your blog
Thanks much for checking out these photos and commenting I greatly appreciate it!
We recently had one take a casual stroll onto a nearby beach here. It was likely a smaller alligator that was sent off by a larger one due to mating season.
Glad you enjoy the photos and stories here! 🙂
Oh, we have the yearly gator dating in session for sure – usually the smaller ones prefer subdivisions lakes and front porches to that part of the beach/Gulf of Mexico…those tar ball are icky. But he got a free ride to Brazos Bend State Park ( THE spot for pampered gators around here).
I’m going to keep that tip about Brazos Bend State Park under my hat and not let it get around to our locals that there is a posh vacation spot available to them. They already have an entitled attitude. 😀
(giggles) Good plan
Now you see it, now you don’t!
Cool shots, Phil!
Thanks so much I’m happy you like these photos!
unlike the fish which are still alive when they go down I wonder if the crabs are or do they die once their shell is crunched?