Best place to see alligators

Mike, the plane pilot switches off the engines on his airboat, the propellers come to a stop and his craft glides to a halt on Lake Tohopekaliga.

Something protrudes (sticks out) from the surface of the lake at a distance of perhaps, 40 or 50 metres - and behind that, another similar looking object can be seen.

What looks like flotsam (floating wreckage) is in fact the head and tail of an alligator - and there are plenty more of these reptiles lurking (waiting) in the water.

"They're a real danger," says Mike adding, "I would like to get closer, but the alligators dive every time I approach them."

An estimated two million alligators live in Florida's (USA) wetland region. Bret Chism of Gatorland theme park says, "There is one alligator for every eight human residents."

Most alligators live in the Everglades in the south of the state, but there are plenty around Gatorland in central Florida for tourists to look at in safety.

Be warned, though; you are putting yourself at considerable risk if you decide to take off on your own to find one of these wonderful animals in the wild. Alligators killed three people in a three-week period last May. In the previous 58 years, a total of 17 deaths occurred due to alligator attacks.

"In the 1960s, alligators were an endangered species here in Florida," recalls Mike, adding, "But they have been protected for a long time and reproducing fast."

Upto 18 passengers can travel in Mike's airboat drifting in the lake's current. Mating season for alligators being in spring, they lay their eggs in June and the eggs hatch after about 60 or 70 days. The alligators near the airboat continues to float motionless in the water and is no closer after five minutes than it was before. Nearby, two smaller alligators sun themselves on the lake-shore.

The best place to get a closer look at an alligator in Florida is Gatorland which opened its doors for the first time in 1954.

Khaleej Times