A Pleasant Late Evening Walk
Late last night just as we were leaving the marsh area I happened to take a quick glance to my left where I thought I saw something, ah, I mean someone, lurking in the weeds at the pond’s edge. Sure enough, it turned out to be our good buddy Mr. A who was just about to begin a happy evening stroll over to the salt marsh side.
He was taking his time and simply enjoying a pleasant summer evening. I watched as he made his way out onto the marsh mud at low tide and the last I saw of him he was heading farther back into the reeds where he will likely pick out a nice relaxing spot for himself.
Phil Lanoue Photography 
Proprio una bella passeggiata si è fatto il Signor A… e tu gli hai fatto un servizio fotografico stupendo!!
Ciao, Pat
Sono felice ti è piaciuto vedere questo ragazzone fuori per la sua passeggiata serale. 🙂
Its the grin that gets me 🙂
I know, same with me. 🙂
He’s a pretty cool character. How wonderful to be able to photograph him.
Oh he’s plenty cool alright! :-). It always amazes me to see one walk, it’s the closest thing we have to a living dinosaur.
Nice photos Phil. I have a question. Do they ever become roadkill, or does traffic yield?
They have been hit, it does happen but mostly any vehicle traffic will stop. Many a day we have gone out in the middle of the causeway and physically stopped traffic to let one cross. That’s tough to do on a highway though but they rarely will be out on a main road. Occasionally some driver will take an attitude with me about it but that’s just going to have to be too bad.
Thanks for looking at these photos!
Thanks for the reply. It does seem they cross busy roads. I was watching Killdeer at the marsh and they hang out on the roads all the time, even laying eggs on the gravel by roadside. I was photographing one crossing and caught it right as a tire just missed it. Made me think of all the wildlife that is in this position everyday. I commend you on helping them cross.
We also routinely stop for turtles crossing the road. We have turtle rescue/relocation bags in all the vehicles and will place them in a nice pond along side some wetlands and hope they like their new home. Unfortunately you have to be very quick to scoop them up before someone (often intentionally) runs them over and crushes them.
One of the first things a turtle rescuer learns is to hold the turtle well away from their body with the back end facing to the side. There are few things as unpleasant as driving away from a rescue with turtle urine soaked pants. The bags are a good idea.
Hey thanks a million for the heads up and excellent tip! We had not thought of turtle pee. Yikes!
We will always keep that carry position in mind when moving turtles in the future. 🙂
Looks like Mr. A is walking on tiptoe. And what a smile!
He does seem to be a careful, quiet walker. Must be better to sneak up on stuff that way. 🙂
Ahhh, Mr. A. THIS is exactly the reason why we have come to love you so. Such posture, cadence and confidence (after a very nice meal, I’m assuming) – you totally own that place, and we relent with a chuckle! …How close were you to him on the road, Phil?
He is pretty much in charge of the entire area, and that’s fine with me. I just hope to get along and be friendly. 🙂
I was quite close, he was right in front of me, I wasn’t even using a long lens.
Walk like a gator. It should be some sort of dance move I think. It must have been fun to watch that ramble and beautifully capture it all.
Hopefully you were safe:) I just couldn’t resist.
Heh heh, I was actually thinking of you and our recent exchange regarding bear photography when I was taking these pictures. So funny that it was just the day before.
I was happy this time too because it was late and it was only me and the big guy out there, nobody else around.
I think you would enjoy photographing these dinosaurs.
I think I would too.
I saw one again today over in the salt marsh and almost walked right by him again. I must be getting old.
I love those funny little legs and cute feeties. He is stepping out so nicely with that front left one in the air. Def about to break into a dance. How fast can they move on land?
Their stubby legs and cute little feetsies are one of the best things about seeing them out walking around. Gotta love a living dinosaur.
I have seen them run, and I mean run, so yeah, they are a lot faster then they look.
I mean, would they catch me? Well, yes right now! And bite my legs off? I’m thinking yes if they were tasty enough. They are not Mr A, before you get ideas.
The common consensus is that they are only fast runners in a straight line, so if you needed to escape from one you should run in a zig zag pattern. But I just figure I don’t have to be faster then the alligator, I only have to be faster then anyone standing near me. 🙂
It’s that contented smile, I like! You’re right about the dinosaur, Phil, nos 8 & 9 especially!
He did have a nice happy smile on his face probably because he was heading out for a fun walk in the mud.
His smile makes me grin every time I see it.
I hope he stays safe on the road. That is scary. I’d be out there protecting him if I saw any approaching vehicles, that is for certain. We do that for the neighborhood cats that no one cares about here!
He almost looks purple in the first shot. And I just love this guy! 🙂
We also routinely stop for turtles crossing the road. We have turtle rescue/relocation bags in all the vehicles and will place them in a nice pond along side some wetlands and hope they like their new home. Unfortunately you have to be very quick to scoop them up before someone (often intentionally) runs them over and crushes them.
I would stop for cats too. Speaking of cats, our poor kitty Ripley just had her left eye surgically removed yesterday. I feel so bad for her.
Glad you enjoyed seeing our big reptilian friend!
Oh, poor Ripley! One of our cats, years ago (and now, sadly, passed away) was shot in the eye with a pellet gun. We had her eye removed and after about three weeks, she was doing fine getting around with only one. Hope Ripley’s eye issue is such that she can recover and life a long life. Best wishes for Ripley, and you guys!
Thanks very much for your kind words, Ripley will be happy to know she has support and encouragement out there!
We think she will eventually adjust OK enough. One problem is that she is already 13 years old so not a young cat. We lost our kitty Jack this past Feb. he was 22 but he was a huge exception to how long we can expect kitties to be around.
Wow Phil. I am alway interested in seeing what you photograph next. These made me smile as well. Really great shots.
Thanks a million for the kind comments and I’m very happy you enjoy the photos!
Why did the Alligator cross the road? Who cares, get outta the way!!😳😬😱😱
Oh I always get out of his way. Well… after getting a few shots of course. 🙂
This guy really cracked me up, Phil. Love the sassy walk and the endearing grin. 🙂
He did have a rather comical Charlie Chaplin type of walk didn’t he?!? 🙂
Speaking of gators crossing roads, here is a story that is running on today’s news in Houston. http://www.khou.com/video/featured-videos/Man-says-hes-learned-his-lesson-after-trying-wrangle-alligator-264111931.html Kids, don’t try this at home, leave gator wrangling to the professionals.
The man said he learned his lesson. Probably until the next time. Some people never learn I suspect.
Never fails to amaze me what will occur to some folks as a good idea.
I suspect the last words of at least one of those guys will be “hey, watch this!” or “hold my beer”.
The best ‘famous last words’ ever are… “Here, hold my beer and watch this!”
Mind-blowing, Phil. So prehistoric, timeless really. Exquisite detail of his hide. Is it wrong to use the words “lovely” and “gator” in the same sentence?
Well I’m thrilled you enjoyed this view of our big boy out walking around. They sure do look like living dinosaurs when you see one out like this.
I’ll let you go with “lovely” and I’ll pass along the complement, but I’m going with happy or maybe friendly for right now. 🙂
🙂
So jealous! I still have not been able to see one up walking around. Cool shots.
I never get tired of seeing one out walking around. I often see them floating by or even out sleeping on the grass, but lots of fun to see the dinosaurs taking a nice walk.