Chomping to meet you

I've got someone who would like to get to know your better. My friend here is a resident at the Jean Lafitte National Park and Wildlife preserve at the Baratairia Unit, just a few miles south of New Orleans.

As we walked along the trail we saw about a dozen alligators from babies to one large one. This fellow was medium sized -- about 5 feet long. The trail is well elevated above the waterway --making it a good vantage point for seeing gators in their natural habitat.

--steve buser

National Parks, alligators, Jean Lafitte NationalPark

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Mr. Friendly

I made a friend. That's always a good thing. Right?

I walked up slowly on the board walk. I took him by surprise and he splashed suddenly into the water. I thought that was the last I would see of him. But, a few seconds later, he swam up into the grasses along the bank just to take a secret peak at me.

Pretending not to notice, I moved closer to him and then started shooting. He sat still, but eventually pushed up further into the grasses to hide a little. Finally, he decided we had known each other long enough that he could push out into the open and get a good look at each other.

He was barely more than a baby (about 3 feet long), but this alligator who frequents the nature trail at the Louisiana Welcome Center on the I-10 is a curious fellow.

I turned to take another shot into the cypress swamp. When I turned around, he was gone. Guess his mother didn't like him playing with people like me.

--steve buser

Gator wader

Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve's Barataria Preseve was the location for this shot today. It was cool for a May day, and not one mosquito. The walk was a real pleasure -- leisurely with plenty to stop you along the way, including more than a dozen gators sunning in the bayou -- actually it is a canal not a bayou, cut for access back in early days and later used by loggers to float logs to the mill.

It was interesting to think that somewhere in these swamps and marshes, Jean Lafitte, the pirate turned patriot turned patriot, hid with his men and smuggled goods into the young country of the USA.

The gators were having fun soaking up the sun and waiting for food to wander by. One of them laid perfectly still and suddenly lurched forward and snapped what looked like a small snake. It makes you take a step back to see that kind of motion in the bayou that nearby.

This shot is of a alligator about 5 feet long. The largest we saw was probably 7 to 8 feet. There were quite a few baby ones, including a little guy about a foot and a half long in the shallow shady water.

The Jean Lafitte Historical Park has six sites, this Preserve is on the West Bank, South of New Orleans.

-- steve buser

Ghostly gator

This is the famous white alligator at the Aquarium of the Americas located at the foot of Canal Street in New Orleans. The foot of Canal seems to be pretty much a favorite location for tourists and locals alike. Shopping, Mississippi River walking, casino, great eating, street cars, French Quarter -- it all comes together right there.

-- steve buser

Sunbathing buddies

How brave are you?

I don't care if I have a hard shell on my back, there are still some things I just won't share a log with. Alligators are at the top of that list.

I'm sure the alligator on the right just ate. In fact, he is probably baking his meal -- since they are cold blooded they love to climb on rocks and logs and other sun-baked places to heat up the meal in their stomach. Nonetheless, I think I would be at least the 4th or 5th turtle from him. That way, all I would have to do is out-swim the other turtles (of whom I would have a head start) and not have to worry about out-swimming the gator.

The scene is the bayou in Audubon Park, in New Orleans

-- steve buser