One summer afternoon in Gainesville....
 

we get a call that 2 hikers have gone a mile and a half out into Paynes Prarie state park and are cut off by a large alligator next to the path that is making menacing sounds when they try to pass. The path is only one car wide and there is no way back because the overlook is 1.5 miles out in the prarie, which is actually a swampy area, filled with LOTS of gators and cotton mouth mocassins, etc. So I get down there with a couple of Alachua County Deputies and the helicopter.

so the chopper says they dont see the gator, the hikers insist it is there and will not come towards where we are.....
then they are proven correct.......

so the chopper flies low and spooks the gator back down in the water so we can get to the hiker, That is me in the blue uniform with the pistol, my trusty glock model 21 in potent 45 cal. form....

and ultimately all is safe and secure, the citizenry of our fair community is safe......

Gator
 

That young man would have been a mere appetizer for that Gator!

I think I'd have taken the taken the 870 with slugs instead of the .45 Glock!

Well the hiker was wearing the right shirt.

I used to carry firecrackers in my glovebox. They worked well. :)

I fixed your pics Bret...they were HUGE.

I was thinking that as well.....how Ironic is that?!?



I wouldn't have even thought about hiking somewhere like that without carrying!



One thing I hate is snakes....only good one is a dead one! I'll worry about if it was harmful or not AFTER it is dead......last week I went to move a tire and when I picked it up I noticed a LARGE snake coiled up in the water in the bottom of the tire....set it down and backed off. Retreived my Glock 19 from the car and Jason moved the tire over to the grass slowly. The first shot went through the sidewall and nearly took his head clean off ...the other 2 shots were just to make sure it was dead :D Good thing it was an old tire I didn't want because it no longer holds air....

Turned out to be a chicken snake but it was about 4' long or a little more and they can still bite and give a nasty infection....but like I said, snakes around me just become a statistic!

Well since we're posting wildlife pics. I found this in my attic on Tuesday. Not a gator but UGLY nonetheless.