Gators! (this post dedicated to Courtney)

Colin and I spent the Saturday of Labor day weekend in the Honey Island Swamp, boating around and looking at gators. We had a fabulous time and got up close and personal with a fairly large female named "one-eyed jack". ( Its not as clear in the photos, but one of her eyes has a cataract). It turns out the swamp guides lure the gators closer in to the boats by tossing them marshmallows.


In this shot you can see "one-eyed jack" nosing a marshmallow. Since she cannot see as well as other alligators, she tended to swim right up and bump her nose against the marshmallow before eating it. Apparently alligators cannot digest refined sugars, so no harm comes from using marshmallows as gator lures.


Alligator hunting season began three days ago, and in this shot you can see some locals butchering and skinning alligators. Up front a guy is handling a head which will be sold to tourists, and behind him is an alligator recently skinned.