Alligator Picture Gallery

Once dangerously close to disappearing, the American Alligator has made an impressive comeback. Designated as a protected species, the alligator now flourishes throughout much of Florida. Conservation efforts have clearly benefited this large reptile and produced a "win-win" scenario for gators, the environment and humans. Now, instead of being hunted and killed for its expensive hide, it is stalked by tourists and nature lovers with cameras and binoculars through swampy territories previously set aside and saved from the encroachment of modern development.

One need not "hunt" for alligators in much of Florida. For instance, in the lower peninsula alligators are so populous that quite often they will accidentally find you. Not that they want to, but alligators, like other wild animals, have a habit of exploring or looking for new ranges; this sometimes brings them into backyards, parking lots, golf courses and other areas humans frequent. These encounters are usually uneventful if the alligator is not provoked and it generally will move on, seeking a better, less stressful habitat. For those stubborn opportunists, local and state authorities usually employ relocation services.

See "how to tell crocodiles from alligators" on this site.

The Canon EOS Digital Rebel single lens reflex (dSLR) camera was employed for most of the photos below. It was equipped with a  Sigma zoom lens 200-500 mm, sometimes with a 1.4 tele-extender. All photos on the page are downsized and compressed for loading speed. The high resolution 6.3 megapixel images are archived offline.

A click on each picture brings up a larger image. Use your BACK button to return to this page.

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This 9' alligator was quietly resting on the bank of a small pond in Everglades National Park. The photographer did get close enough to get some great portrait photos, although from the top of a picnic table.
 

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Alligators love to crawl up on a bank and sun themselves during the hotter parts of the day. A few pictures from Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island show the technique.
 

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This fat boy looks as though he is resting after a big meal. These small gators were spotted in a small pool along Janes Scenic Drive in the Fakahatchee Strand southwest of Naples.
 

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At the end of the Big Cypress Bend boardwalk south of Naples, alligators and large wading birds are frequently seen across the small pond. Baby gators (upper right) like to pile on top of one another on pond logs.
 

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 Gator pictures from the Fakahatchee Strand.

Gator in Everglades National Park.
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Gator swimming at Sweetwater Strand off Loop Road. Note whitish color by eyes and nose - those parts generally out of the water. Also, rear webbed feet. This small gator was in a small pond in a Charlotte County ECO park.
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Along Loop Road in Big Cypress Preserve the gators love to nap in the middle of the road on a sunny winter's day. When a car comes along most of them will readily move (upper left). Sometimes, for stubborn ones, it takes the car-creep method (center) moving within feet of them to sufficiently motivate these cold-blooded creatures to get off the road (upper right) and take a slow, surly walk back to the swamp.

 

 

 


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