There’s Gators on the Path Up There

“There’s gators on the path up there, if you want to get some good pictures.”

Aside from the guy we spotted off the path wearing mid-calf boots and poking the ground with what appeared to be a stick* (coincidentally after just having had a conversation about how this path might be a bit scary to walk alone because strange people are everywhere), this was the first person my mom and I had come across on our hike. He’d walked into my photo just as I was about to press the shutter and, noticing my camera, let us know what was ahead.

Gators were the reason we’d come to Paynes Prairie Preserve in the first place – you’re guaranteed to see them on the La Chua trail. However, we didn’t expect to see them on our current path. The description of the Bolen Bluff Trail on our map had only read: “2.5 miles round trip. Named after a family of pioneers, this trail is a shady loop with a spur to a wildlife viewing platform. If lucky, observe the wild Spanish horses or the bison herd.”

Thanking the stranger, I took a photo of the path and we continued walking. We rounded a corner only to find the landscape change completely, large bare trees on either side of the path reaching skyward and the prairie visible ahead.

Once we entered the prairie, the path narrowed and we were surrounded by marsh on both sides (read: no easy escape).

“I’m not sure I want to be this close to an alligator,” I told my mom, anxiety and anticipation suddenly mounting. I knew we were going to see an alligator eventually, it was just a matter of where exactly he’d decide to show up. It was like Gatorland without the safety and separation of fences.

A few years prior, canoeing the Wekiva River with my boyfriend, we’d seen a small alligator on the bank. John wanted to get closer for a picture and I agreed, until I realized our definitions of “closer” were vastly different. I think I said every curse word in existence mid freak-out. So why exactly was I here purposely seeking out alligators on foot?

Sidestepping large piles of poop (from wild horses? Bison? What does bison poop even look like?) I kept my eyes trained on the marsh on either side of the path. Briefly turning my focus forward, I saw a black blob in the path ahead. Certainly it was a bit too large to be yet another giant pile of poop?

“What is that? Is that a gator?” I asked my mom.

The combination of distance and my severely out of date glasses prescription (still out of date as I am writing this) made it hard to tell, but as we got closer the unmistakeable shape of a large alligator casually laying across the path in front of us materialized.

I took a few photos, inching a little bit closer each time, and couldn’t resist taking a gator selfie.

At the preserve, wildlife comes first and always has the right of way. It’s refreshing to be in a place where the roles are reversed – there wasn’t any question of who was in control – if that gator would have even turned his head half an inch you can bet I would’ve started running in the opposite direction.

Later in the day, we made our way to the La Chua trail, and as promised there were gators everywhere. But the unexpected gator had turned out to be my favorite memory of the day.

To the few people we passed on our way back on the Bolen Bluff Trail, we happily announced, “you won’t make it too far, there’s a gator on the path up there.”

*We later encountered this mysterious man with the stick again. Turns out his stick was actually a snake catching stick and he was at the preserve looking for water moccasins. When asked why, he kept it simple: “Snakes are my passion.”