The March of the Baby Alligators:

[Canon_Bob]

The dry season is upon us here in Southwest Florida. Many of the swamplands are drying up, and the fight for watherholes is afoot. I stumbled across these baby gators today trying to stay in the morning sun. As the shade would move, they would get up and move into the sun. Each baby gator is approximately 18-24 inches in length. I had to shoot this at a very small aperture to get them all in focus:



....Now as you can imagine, Momma Gator wasn't far away! I estimate her to be about a 10 to 12 foot gator. You can see one of the babies beside her for comparison:

[Bevb]

Wow these are great shots, and the comparison is quite scary, are you ever keeping an eye behind you when you are photographing these?!!

[cyberlord]

Wow! I've seen a couple small ones up here in NW Florida, but by the time I went home to get my camera they were gone.

[Canon_Bob]

Wow these are great shots, and the comparison is quite scary, are you ever keeping an eye behind you when you are photographing these?!!

You always keep a watchful eye out when near the water in SW Florida. Gators are very fast, and could easily run down a human. I am primarily a bird photographer, but I love shooting water birds (waders). There was a second large gator off in the trees behind this one. Any gator over about 8 feet poses a significant threat. These two were probably around 12 footers. Give them their distance, and don't EVER mess with the babies!

[paulnj]

Great group image and that second image is sweet! I don't shoot much anymore due to my job, but I too am 99% avian photog.