American Crocodile Series

[Canon_Bob]

It has been one long day. Got up at 2:30 AM and drove to the southernmost point in the Florida Everglades in search of this beast. It was a successful trip. We found several. One of them was HUGE! Far bigger than any Gator I've ever seen. I estimate the big one in these shots to be somewhare in the area of 16-17 feet. He was pretty ticked that we were there, and growled at us the whole time. Most of these images were shot with the 600 from a safe distance, but one of them (the one with the 2 smaller crocs) was shot with the 70-200! You do the math on that one, I was only a few feet away! FYI - The American Croc is not nearly as aggressive as the Alligator, but still they are ferociously dangerous. I was too close on one of them. Anyway, we shot tons of birds too, but I'm too darn tired to PP tonight. Enjoy these samples:

This is the big one shot with the 600mm f/4. I used a fill flash on this one to compensate for the back lighting:


Here's a group shot of three of them. The big guy is obvious here. Those two smaller ones were not that small! He was a monster:


Here's the ones I walked upon while looking for birds - Shot with the 70-200L:


A couple more:

[Loupey]

Well I certainly didn't know about American Crocs in Florida - only heard about the American Aligators which makes the news up here when they eat people on golf courses

Makes one wonder what else is lurking in the swamps down there. If you come across bigfoot, make sure to get some shots of it will ya I'm sure the search for the Ivory-billed woodpecker has been going on hot and heavy for a while in those parts as well.

You certainly stumbled upon them at close range. Love that last shot.

[Dylan8i]

nice shots of a great subject!
the american crocodiles are endangered as well.


loupey there are also Mountain lions, and black bears wondering around the swamps!

[Canon_Bob]

Thanks for the replies Loupey and Dylan.

Dylan - Not sure about the Mountain Lions. You may be thinking about Florida Panthers (which are on the brink of extinction). They are definitely on my target list for photographing (there are some captive ones, but I won't shoot those). Black Bear are very common here in Southern Florida, and I actually have problems with those in my feeder area. They regularly tear my feeders down and eat the seeds!

I don't know if you guys noticed or not, but the big one actually has baby-blue eyes:


I found that interesting, as the others did not.

[green_me]

Hi

Most of photos here are really marveolus (congratulations!), however, I have bit different question. It is, how far from the alligators can you stay during shooting?
Once I have heard that it is at least 5 metres (as far as I remember) from a medium-size alligator. Cause he can always jump and attack .

Besides, really great amatour photos

Thanks for reply in advance

g.

PS. Do you shoot smaller animals too? Like frogs or toads (amphibians)?
I have shot once a little, nice, green Polish frog. It was quite cute .
And not dangerous at all

[Canon_Bob]

Hi

Most of photos here are really marveolus (congratulations!), however, I have bit different question. It is, how far from the alligators can you stay during shooting?
Once I have heard that it is at least 5 metres (as far as I remember) from a medium-size alligator. Cause he can always jump and attack .

Besides, really great amatour photos

Thanks for reply in advance

g.

PS. Do you shoot smaller animals too? Like frogs or toads (amphibians)?
I have shot once a little, nice, green Polish frog. It was quite cute .
And not dangerous at all

An excellent question here (regarding safe distances for Alligators).

The answer is simply that Alligators are extremely aggressive and volitile creatures. They look lazy much of the time, but can move VERY quickly (much faster than you can hope to run). I think even 5 meters is pushing it if you're talking about a sizable Gator. I see tourists walk right up to sunning Gators all the time here. They have no idea how stupid that is. Even smaller gators are dangerous to a degree.

Crocs, on the other hand aren't nearly as likely to attack.....but I wouldn't bet my life on that either. I was within 1.5 meters of the two smaller (7 footers) Crocs in image 3 above, but that was accidental. I came around a clump of brush, and there they were.

I never go into gator infested areas alone, and both me and my partner are armed (legally, of course - that's all I'll say about that).

Anyone planning to go on a Gator photo-tour should enlist an experienced guide. You need to understand their habits, mannerisms, habitat, and evasive maneuvers before going without one. I am not willing to teach those things here in a forum environment.

Frankly, the poisonous snakes are a bigger concern to me than gators are. They are far more unpredictable, and can be found everywhere I go!

For your last question, Yes, I shoot anything nature related.

[mn shutterbug]

Wow, I can see why you have such a huge lens.

[Dylan8i]

its always better to be safe than sorry... ie going with partner, staying further than you think is safe etc. especially when you see how quick they actually are (running something like 40 mph for short bursts etc)


but id say an experienced person (ive been to florida with my herpetology teacher, who also use to work with alligators at bush gardens in Tampa) can easily get close the them safely.

While on out trip to florida he was trying to catch an alligator for us the whole time ( which is illegal- but so is handling salamanders, birds, snakes etc in PA), we canoed in alligator infested water, he tried to lure some to shore at a lake (unsuccesfully since there were 20 people standing on the bank behind him). we finally ended up catching a 4.5 foot one, and it was strong as heck, but was a hell of an experience.


that said, if i ever get to go back, id defentally stay my distance and use a long lense.

[green_me]

Hi Canon Bob specially.

Hmmm...I wouldnot dare to come so close (1.5 metres) to ...any alligator at all.
I have a very big respect for nature. Probably too big but...

As deals snakes... well, when you like shooting them you have your ratlle-snakes in US(by the way did you shoot any) but some specialists claim - cobra-snakes are ideal snakes..so if I can ask you - when are you going to shoot some cobras to show us them here ?

I am writing about cobras cause once I saw an excellent documentary about the need for creating reserves for these snakes and how important issue is it. Yes. The author of this documentary (a Brit) managed to multiply cobra snakes in captivity. He has been reserching them for 30 years or something. We could see little cobra snakes leaving their egg-shells. Incredible.

Ok. And what about spiders? Do you shoot them?
Below I am sending you one Polish spider (so called striped-tiger spider). That's a rare species here - legally protected. Rather little. Anything big. Not any poisonous. How do you like it?



All the best for you here
green.

PS. Are you going to shoot some tigers soon Or jaguars better - though it is very hard to meet them in the open , I have heard somewhere (or watched)...

[green_me]

PS. Well... I have to come back to write that these little, tiny cobra snakes are already able to kill a grown up person with their poison

The author of this documentary has been poisoned by cobras so many times that at the beginning of the doc.it has been told at once - he would die in case of another snake-bite cause he got an allergy for... all the anti-poison substances ( I am not sure what is its English name). A kind of nightmare. Anyway I hope my English is bit better though I still make a lot of errors like (for example) :

Above I wrote:

documentary about the need for creating reserves

when probably it should be:

documentary about the need of creating reserves

All the best for you.
green.

[Dylan8i]

i have some rattle snake shots maybe i'll post later...
and Sushigaijin has many many snake pictures around if you look.

as far as getting close and or handeling them, it is not difficult for an experienced handler, or someone use to them.


as far as tigers or jaguars, there are none in florida



oh and above i said there are mountain lions in flordia... mountain lions, pumas, cougars, panthers are all different names for the same animals. however the florida group is a sub species that is endangered, but has also been poluted by texas DNA.

[Loupey]

I don't know if you guys noticed or not, but the big one actually has baby-blue eyes:

I did see that in the original post. I assumed it was the result of your flash. But that is pretty cool.

[Canon_Bob]

I did see that in the original post. I assumed it was the result of your flash. But that is pretty cool.

I originally thought that too....but the non-flash images are the same (in fact, that enlarged one was taken with the 40D and no flash). Very surreal. The others didn't have the blue eyes. I wonder if it's something that develops later? He was definitely much older/larger than the others. I sure wish I could've had some real frame of reference in the images to show how big he really was. And even worse, the GROWL he was constantly emitting! It was a very resonating gurgling sound. One of those things that you almost had to be there to get the full feel for it. I know I'll never forget it. I don't know if I'll ever get a shot at them again, but this one experience sure was worth it!

Regarding the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker....They are very actively searching the panhandle forests for them. I guess I'm waiting for some more conclusive proof of existence before I'm going to go after the Holy Grail of bird photography :thumbsup:

[paulnj]

Bob, you are killing me!

Here's how I seen my one and only american croc.....

They I am laying on the water's edge half in the water with my camera 2-3 inches above the water level(F100/Sigma 170-500 with tc16a.... 800mm manual focus) shooting head shots of willet grabbing fish. After a few minutes I hear "oh my god that gator is so close to that man" and 20 seconds later my viewfinder goes dark and blurry. I look over my camera and swimming buy 5 feet from me is a MONSTER 14+ FOOT american croc....

I have a slide of a tooth shot at 10 feet..... yeah baby!!!!!!!

[Canon_Bob]

Bob, you are killing me!

Here's how I seen my one and only american croc.....

They I am laying on the water's edge half in the water with my camera 2-3 inches above the water level(F100/Sigma 170-500 with tc16a.... 800mm manual focus) shooting head shots of willet grabbing fish. After a few minutes I hear "oh my god that gator is so close to that man" and 20 seconds later my viewfinder goes dark and blurry. I look over my camera and swimming buy 5 feet from me is a MONSTER 14+ FOOT american croc....

I have a slide of a tooth shot at 10 feet..... yeah baby!!!!!!!

Lucky for you I actually have to go back to my day-job for a week before I can go out shooting again

It was a nice week off, but I'm tired and can frankly use the rest!

Of course, with the GBH mating season kicking in full-force, you'll probably get a good dose of Venice Rookery next weekend

[Canon_Bob]

Here's how I seen my one and only american croc.....

They I am laying on the water's edge half in the water with my camera 2-3 inches above the water level(F100/Sigma 170-500 with tc16a.... 800mm manual focus) shooting head shots of willet grabbing fish. After a few minutes I hear "oh my god that gator is so close to that man" and 20 seconds later my viewfinder goes dark and blurry. I look over my camera and swimming buy 5 feet from me is a MONSTER 14+ FOOT american croc....

I have a slide of a tooth shot at 10 feet..... yeah baby!!!!!!!

Was that by chance the one out at Ding Darling? There is a fairly large female running around out there. They actually captured her, and moved her....but she came back. She gets seen every now and then. last time I heard of someone spotting her was October. These ones I got were deep in the Everglades. I was literally down on the very tip of the Florida penninsula last week. I've never seen the one at Ding.

[paulnj]

It was indeed at Ding and about 6 years ago. She was MASSIVE!!!!!!! She was as big as the huge ones deep in the glades or occationally seen along alligator alley. No kidding, it dwarfed the 9-12ft gators I was chasing all week in the tampa area.

[Canon_Bob]

It was indeed at Ding and about 6 years ago. She was MASSIVE!!!!!!! She was as big as the huge ones deep in the glades or occationally seen along alligator alley. No kidding, it dwarfed the 9-12ft gators I was chasing all week in the tampa area.

LOL - It sounded like her from your description. You'll be happy to know, she's still there! Probably even bigger now. I've never personally seen her, but have been there while she was out and about.

All the ones above were shot deep in the Glades. I found them in three seperate locations: the three shown above, the two that I almost stepped on, and then a single (smaller) one in another pond. It was an experience I'll never forget. I don't think they get much bigger that that monster was. He was easily 16 feet, and maybe more. Like you said, a 12 foot Gator has nothing on this thing!