After 8 glorious days on the Waccamaw River at Butler Island, we slowly made our way south to Cumberland Island, another one of our favorite ICW stops. As with previous stops, we have made numerous hikes through the live oaks and on the beach. I have often wondered what live oaks are called when they die off - Firewood! Back to the business at hand. One of the many benefits of Cumberland Island has been the wildlife. This year has not been a disappointment with the wild horses, turkey and other creatures. Yesterday was quite a surprise for us as we sat on the boat watching the tide go out, very much like watching paint dry. Except this paint drying episode had a twist to it. To the west of our anchorage is a shoal that at low tide is exposed. At half tide I kept looking over at a formation on the shoal. Although partially submerged, it kept my interest. As the tide receded even more, I was drawn into a curious mode and would scan it more regularly with the binoculars. Although it was only 150 yards from the boat, I was not able to get a good view because of the way the object was laying. The key word here is laying. Finally at low tide, when the object was fully exposed I discovered it was an alligator laying on the shoal. It appeared to have something in its mouth. Then, all of a sudden as on cue, with a violent lift of its head and partially opening of its jaws repeatedly, the alligator started to swallow its prey. We could not decide what the alligator was having for lunch but inquiring minds wanted to know. Off to the dinghy for a closer look. As I was getting into the dinghy, the alligator must have caught wind of my plans and slowly lumbered into the water. I was able to get the dinghy close to the alligator, about 30 yards, but I don't think the alligator appreciated my interruption of its lunch and just stared at me. I slowly backed off and returned to the boat but not before getting a few decent pictures of the alligator in the water. Cancel today's swimming lessons.
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| Basking in the sun while savoring lunch |
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| Still working on swallowing lunch, gator needed something to wash lunch down. |
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| The partially open mouth convinced me to back off. |
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