April Fools and Alligators

It’s April Fools Day everyday around here. And that’s usually the case for anyone with a home positioned near bodies of fresh water in Florida. We see… things… in the water. All the time. Usually its just something like this.

And at first you think

“Oh crap. A gator. How big is it? Do we need to call the Gator hotline?”

Because yes there is such a thing. But then you realize, no. It’s just driftwood. Yep. Just another piece of wood floating by that sure does a good job camouflaging itself as as a gator. Ha ha. Very funny. The joke is on us. Again.

But you always have to check. You have to keep the kids and the small pets back. Just in case. Because it could always be this. And this isn’t driftwood.

Full disclosure: this wasn’t taken in my backyard, it was taken at the Florida Aquarium. Not that I haven’t seen gators in the ponds out back. Or ambling through my yard. They are just really hard to sneak up on and are more often than not (thankfully) more scared of us. They usually disappear very quickly before I could ever get this close.

(Unless its a very big one and it wants me this close but then I don’t think I’d have time to grab my camera anyway.)

They just want to go about their business, finding and becoming their inner driftwood, submerging themselves silently if we come anywhere near.

But still. You have to check.

Ha ha.

April Fools. Just another piece of wood.

This time.