The Big Guns Were Out!
Yesterday late afternoon we had some thunder storms with heavy rain move into our area. By evening the storms had blown by and we decided to go check out the marsh pond specifically to see if any alligators might be out. We know that frequently after a rain, alligators will come out because they like to swim around in the newly freshened pond with a higher water level due to the rain.
Well not only were some out but the BIG boys were out! The heavy artillery, the big guns, the battleships, whatever you want to call them they were out and swimming all over the pond area. Most of you have seen me post photos of the babies recently (we refer to any alligator 5 feet and under as a “baby”) but the youngsters were nowhere to be seen. It was adult swim with no kids allowed last night!
Phil Lanoue Photography 
Must be the gator equivalent of the Death Star. Of course the wee ones were hiding in the reeds. 🙂
Nice shots, Phil.
Glad you liked ’em Steve!
OH yeah, cue the evil sounding Darth Vader music when these guys are out, that would have been great last night!
The little ones know when it’s best to stay tucked back in the reeds for sure.
Aagh! Just wonderful. But definitely not cute. Totally the reverse of the babies. These are evil looking monsters much as I love your gators.. And the water looks superb on all of them.
*Keeps hand away and decides not to stroke*
Well they may not be exactly cute… but maybe how about impressive? That could work right? The water was about the best I could get it to look due to the low light and the dark alligators, the exposures were giving me fits.
Good plan to keep your hands tucked away like the babies were last night.
Maybe the water was too high or too deep and she had not made any swimming tests? 😛 Next time, for sure!
They were very happy I think last night in their water! Well they seemed happy anyway. 🙂
We saw the large ones. And wondered what your story of the evening would be. Great photos and great story!
I’m happy you liked the photos and stories Becky! We were also glad to see some of the larger ones last night, we had been seeing mostly only the youngsters.
Holy Scnikes Batman! Those suckers are HUGE! And cute. Because of your photos, my dream in life now is to be able to float or skim on water like an alligator. Love the shots!
If you got two and trained them really well I bet you could get them to swim side by side with you laying on your back on top of them as they slowly glide along. Not THAT would be worth seeing!!
Humm… maybe that’s not the best idea, I’ll keep thinking and try to come up with something…
Thanks for checking these out and glad you liked ’em!
Why did I feel like this one kind of required suspenseful background music?
Oh they absolutely need their own background theme music! That would be excellent!
I should get a sound system put up over there.
LMAO! The images that conjure up in my overactive imagination is quite hilarious.
Hey we like to have a good time out there! 🙂
Great shots, but it would be nice for someone to swim alongside them for a sense of scale… any chance of that happening? 😀
I’m not sure who you mean by “someone” 😛 😀
But maybe I could talk a local water aerobics class to do a session in the marsh, that could be fun. 🙂
The thought of your aerobic workout in the marsh had me in fits of laughter. That’s my aerobic workout for the day!
It could a damper on the class if all of a sudden we couldn’t locate one of the participants.
Has anyone seen Mrs. McGillicuddy?! Oh dear, I hope she wasn’t dragged under by one of those sneaky alligators! 😯 😀
They always give me the creeps Phil, great shots, as usual. 🙂
But they are so cute and cuddly. 🙂 Thanks for checking these out Jan!
YIKES!!!!! That is more gators than I see in a month or two! Quite hogging the gators—send them south.
What was the size of the biggest one? I absolutely love the horizontal lines the the second to last shot. That one speaks of stealth! Most of the others are the stuff nightmares are made from. Excellent camera work.
There was a BIG crowd (in every sense of the word) out last night which I hoped would be the case because I have seen that before when after a good rain the alligators like to go for a nice swim in the higher water.
Thanks very much for your kind comments Larry I appreciate it and I’m happy you liked these photos!
If the pond level drops again and the widgeon grass continues to grow they may wish they were farther south.
It’s the big dogs night out!
It sure was and they seemed thrilled to be out too! They were chasing one another and swimming laps and just bein’ gators. 🙂
Oh, I love this collection! My favorite photo is third from the bottom, with the beautiful striations in the water. That’s really one gorgeous photo. I’ve got another post lined up for my next one, but then I’m going to be writing a little about alligators. The title? “The Day We Didn’t Die!”
I think part of the reason I love them so much is because I grew up with Walt Kelly and Pogo. Albert was a different kind of alligator. 😉
Well I’m very happy you enjoyed seeing our big boys from last night! I’ll be checking for your upcoming alligator post too.
Yes that Albert was a little different for sure. 🙂
Thanks very much for looking!
Nothing like the big bad boys! The first one is particularly impressive.
Oh yeah we had some crowd last night and I was actually surprised to see the big guys all circling around which must have sent the babies scurrying for cover.
I like the babies better, but the big ones really are a sight to see. Really nice images.
The babies are cute but sometimes you just have to bring out the big boys for some real fun! 🙂
I like how you describe them — the heavy artillery, the big guns, the battleships 😀 Great shots, Phil!
With that armor plating they do look rather formidable and almost military in appearance.
Thanks for checking these out Amy!
Wonderful shots!!!
I’m glad you like them, thanks!
Number 8 is my favourite. I wouldn’t argue with any of these guys.
No I wouldn’t argue with any of them either. As far as I’m concerned they are always right. 🙂
Like an army coming…. 🙂 amazing shots! Thank you dear Phil, have a nice day and weekend, love, nia
That is a good description Nia! Thank you very much and I hope you enjoy your weekend!
They definitely have that “Don’t mess with me” look in their eyes. What intimidating creatures these heavyweights are. 😯 Your photos never cease to amaze me, Phil.
Oh yeah, they have that look no doubt Sylvia! Fun to see the heavyweights sometimes isn’t it?!
Thanks I’m happy you enjoyed these photos!
WOW! big and scary! You are a brave man, Phil 🙂
A couple of the real nice size ones would chase off the smaller ones and by smaller ones I mean around six feet so still a good size boy that is normally the chaser not the chased!
Just got back from a few days of vacation and thought “I must check-in on Mr. Alligator and Friends”. You did not disappoint…amazing shots.
Well I’m very happy you decided to stop in and check on what our alligator pals were up to! Hope you had a great vacation and thanks much for looking and commenting!
You weren’t joking. I bet the little ones were hiding. They know better! Those guys are really big. Beautiful photographs.
The little guys will scatter and find places to hide out of the way when the big boys come steaming into the area!
Glad you like the pics!
Quite an armada of those modern-day dinosaurs, Phil!
Oh yeah we had the full battle group out that night Shelly!
So intimidating! They have such total confidence in themselves!
Yes Maggie they sure do have that confident look and well they should since they are at the top of the food chain.