January 25, 2013. We have feral cats living in the brush behind our campsite. I tried to approach one this afternoon. He fixed his eyes on me to be sure I didn't get too close. An instant after this picture was taken, he scampered back into the brush. There are also snakes moving about in the campground. The one shown above apparently was sunning and warming himself on the asphalt drive. That was unwise. By the time we happened by, he had been run over by 5-6 cars. I don't know what kind of snake it was. Well, yes I do. It was the dead kind.
There are alligators here, but we haven't seen them moving about. Annie wondered aloud if alligators hibernate during the winter. So, we asked Google. It turns out that they actually "brummate." They slow their metabolism but do not hibernate. They can be active in temperatures down to 40 degrees even though they are cold-blooded reptiles. In warmer weather (today it was 70 degrees with bright sunshine here) they become very active. Annie remains vigilant. Did you know that alligators can hold their breath for 60 minutes underwater?
Finally, the troll. We were biking this afternoon on a new trail which featured live oaks covered with Spanish moss. As we were returning to the campground, another trail merged with ours. Walking down the other trail was a smallish man with a Rasputin black beard wearing a Leprechaun flat hat. I was past him before I could ask his permission to take his picture. I thought about going back, but I was afraid he was one of those trolls whose stare can paralyze his victims. I rode on.
So, it has been a day of feral cats, snakes, gators and trolls. That, and a temperature which reached 70 degrees make it a good day. I hope you had a good day, too.
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