When we went to the marsh rabbit run trail at Circle B, we knew the blue skies overhead would likely produce some memorable moments that are photo-worthy.
That time of the morning, is always a creature-rich part of the day as nocturnal creatures have relinquished control of the trails and daylight-animals and birds are out looking for their first meal of the day.
Fish, eels, lizards, and others at the bottom of the food chain unwittingly begin the day’s cycle of life as nature’s breakfast-serving to their predatory (and hungry) neighbors.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again. If it turns out that I am wrong about reincarnation and I become some wide-eyed fish, please let it not be one in the waters around Lake Hancock.
I mean, I love Osprey. I really do. But I have seen so many eating their sushi-style breakfast in the trees above the trail that the thought of having my face eaten off me by one has become a theme for some miserable day-dreams.
In any event, we wandered the trail, Inna with her binoculars as the spotter and me with the 600 mm lens as the image-taker, and we weren’t short changed. Activity was all around us and we rarely took more than a few steps before something or someone made us stop and observe.
This time of the year, with the arrival of afternoon rains, the thicket either-side of the trails that we walk are greener and more lush than the dry season and much of our experience was listening to sounds that were near us. Audible doesn’t always translate to visible on trails like Circle B and sometimes you just have to be satisfied with hearing something rather than catching it front and center in a bright light.
There were several moments when we were surrounded by growls that we couldn’t see. For anyone who hasn’t experienced it, Alligator growls are an amazing primal moment. They can hit you in the pit of your stomach, well-beyond what your ears can tell you.
You know you are only feet away from whoever is growling and yet you can see nothing. They were to the left of us, the right of us, ahead of us, and behind us.
It was genuinely awesome in the true meaning of the word.
I have put a quick ten second clip on youtube here from our trail. Nothing to see, but do turn up the audio. https://youtu.be/KICDNJwMtMk
Anyway, I have added some images at the end of the blog. My favorite is the alligator with gaping mouth to where you can see the water drops on his teeth.
Hope you enjoy.
So, the thought that sprung to mind when pulling these images together today was how the smiles and growls of the trail were absolutely misleading and how they can take us in a certain direction to where we make poor decisions. You see, the growls while undoubtedly worrying, were not intended for us. They were territorial and competing alligators were trying to ward off others in the area and attract a female. The deeper the growl, the bigger the alligator and apparently in the female alligator mind, size really does matter.
I have encountered a fifteen foot alligator once, just five feet away from me as he rose out of the water and told me I was too close for his comfort with a growl that I can still feel in the pit of my stomach while writing. The presence of a growl in an alligator encounter therefore doesn’t mean we are about to be attacked.
Similarly, when resting, alligators’ mouths curve into a wonderful smile. They always look so happy and as there is nothing else on their face to give us an expression to understand, we (and others) can easily arrive at the wrong conclusion that all is right in a certain moment. In the animal kingdom, they quite possibly have the most misleading smiles of all.
When it comes to the world we live in, these thoughts translate into our reality inasmuch as not everyone who growls at us is an enemy and not everyone who smiles at us is a friend.
Over the years I can recall some who growled at me in days past that turned out to be good people and one or two that are currently friends. Similarly I can recall many who smiled to my face while plunging a knife into my back.
Our ability to recognize a true growl or real smile is part of the growing experience that we take with us through life’s journey. We invariably discard some of each and look to the motive behind them.
Some growls might be an expression of love; for example a parent chastising a child for a behavioral issue that the child needs to improve. Smiles might be a simple way of disarming you while you are being taken advantage of or abused.
It is people’s actions and particularly the actions beneath the surface that really count in how we gather or discard them within our lives. Knowing your friends is every bit as important as knowing your enemies. The damage done by misinterpreting a smile or growl can sidetrack or even derail the best of life’s journeys.
And as we only get one journey, it is important to read the signs correctly along the way.
… just a thought.
