Close Up Pictures of an Alligator

On my trip to Birmingham we stopped for a visit to the Birmingham Zoo, which is quite nice. They had a "swamp" there and a big old fat American Alligator. He obliged me by sitting very still and only stretching once in a while as he baked in the sun. I shot several hundred detail photos of this fellow.


The swamp was covered in duck week, a green moss that completely blankets the top of the water.
Just under the surface are small turtles and frogs....and....

Alligators! This bull gator was about eight feet long and probably weighed around 900 lbs.


This fellow is one of two that I could see. He was basking in the sun and the duck weed was stuck all over his body. A nice bit of camouflage.

This is as close as the zoo would let me get to the alligator. Actually, I wouldn't have even gotten that close except that it is a good ways down to his pen and lots of steel wire separates us.

I have GREAT respect for alligators as I once watched a buddy of mine become a snack for one about the same size as this gator. If you want the story, post a comment saying so and I'll write it down.