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| FLASHBACK: Three years prior to this trip, I bought the canoe because I wanted to camp for a couple of nights on the Peace River in Arcadia, Florida - while paddling from Zolfo Springs to Gardner. It was winter. The temperature was in the forties. The water level was low. During the cold months, alligators spend a lot of time on the banks sunning themselves to raise their body temperatures. |
| Alligators normally go underwater when they hear or see boats or people approaching. I went with my dog, April. The Peace River is narrow and shallow. Some parts are only a few inches deep during the dry season. On several occasions, I had to get out of the canoe and drag it over the sandy bottom. On long stretches I wouldn't see any alligators unless I kept a sharp look out and saw them far in the horizon before they got to see me. However, when we noiselessly reached the river bends, it was a different story. Every time I turned a bend, I would unfailingly surprise an alligator sunning itself on the shore. It, in turn, would scare the living daylights out of me. This particular section of the river is no wider than twenty feet and no deeper than four feet. Because of the restricted space, by the time the alligator began entering the water, I would be about five feet from it. By the time it submerged, my canoe would be passing right over it. The first one I encountered was a ten-footer. My eyes peeled, my hair stood on end, my heart skipped and my breath caught as the canoe floated over it. During the three hours that it took to get through the river bends, I saw over fifty alligators ranging from one to ten feet. It was like being in one of those Tarzan movies where you see all the alligators going into the water. As I was exiting the last bend, there was a fallen tree to my right. I was forced to hug the left bank. A dozen baby gators lay on a log - a foot away from the gunwale. I knew mamma had to be close by. The only thought that crossed my mind was: Shit! If I hit that log, the mother will think I'm hurting her babies.s!! |
I still shudder at the memory. By the time I came out of the oxbows, my emotional and mental state was beyond terror. By the grace of God, April had slept by my feet throughout the ordeal. If you want to see more alligators than you care to see in a lifetime, quietly canoe down the bends of the Peace River when the temperatures are bellow fifty. Many people rent canoes and leisurely paddle down the aptly named river, listening to their radios, talking amongst themselves and totally unaware that it is infested with gators. I highly recommend it to any adventurous spirit for its beautiful scenery. But if you go down the Peace River, keep in mind the inherent danger it poses to small children and pets. It was during that living nightmare that I learned to recognize alligator holes. Alligators make their homes by digging holes in the river bottom, close to the bank. I noticed that they seem to favor locations with fallen trees and/or low overhanging branches. During the dry season and droughts, these holes remain filled with water and become a refuge for fish, birds, mammals, etc. - conveniently bringing the food supply right to the gator's door. I don't know if they exhibit the same behavior in wider rivers but in the Peace River, alligators like to sun themselves on the bank opposite their hole. Since the Peace River is narrow and shallow the alligator holes are visible. |
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| Beatriz Socorro |