Yesterday morning, Mark was on the pier catching mullet in the net. It was amazing the number of fish he was catching in the short time he had been there. Then...he spied the huge critter! After giving me a call, he started taking photographs of one of the largest alligators in the area. That thing was HUGE! Just by estimating (next to pier posts), the gator easily seemed to be 11 or 12 feet in length!
Normally, the alligators keep their distance with only a couple of times finding one venturing close to the pier while we were there. This big, ole gator just kept coming! Soon it was right where Mark had been throwing the net! (As you can see in one of the photographs, it was literally right against the pier!) Wisely, Mark stopped throwing the net and kept HIS distance from the critter. It was not long before our "friendly" critter had enough of this closeness and started moving on its way to the mouth of the Bayou. It was then that Mark could breathe a bit easier and continue with his mulleting.
It is not often that we get the chance to observe the gators of this size. Most that visit are under 8 feet and...most have the good sense to stay a wee bit further away from the pier. After talking it over, we decided that either the gator is the one messing with the crab pots or the constant splashing of the net got the best of its curiosity. Whichever, the best move was just let the massive critter go on its happy way. Just like with snakebites, more people get injured (or killed) by messing with the gators than if they are allowed to move along on their own. If you are going to live on a Bayou or near any body of water, you have to respect the critters that are there. It is their territory. We are the intruders. Mark's decision to not harass the alligator was the right way of dealing with it. (Only twice has this huge gator been seen near our pier. It usually stays far from here and only visits rarely. Quite exciting to see it, however!)
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