Alligator

Over the past 18 months, there have been about 3-4 alligators that have "hung around" the pond off and on. We have only had one at a time and they never stay for very long. Interestingly, they seem to all love to sun themselves in the same area. They stay across the pond on the side that fronts the wooded preserve area. We've been told (thankfully, we've never had this information tested) that, as long as the gator stays on the far side of the pond and away from homes they are left alone, but if they begin to frequent the banks by our backyards, they are removed. I enjoy seeing them over there. It helps that none of them have been overly huge. The kiddos know they are not allowed down by the pond ever, so they aren't near where a gator could be anyway. This is our latest alligator. I think he may be the smallest one yet. I snapped this picture from our backyard across the pond and then edited the image by zooming in. You gotta love living in Florida.