Table of Contents
June 14 General Meeting Minutes
Trip Reports
Cecilia Gill: Labor Day on the Sabine River
Alligators
of Armand Bayou
by Ed Mayo, photos by Ed Mayo
In April of 2005 I had a heart attack. It has been over a year since then and I still find myself recovering. At first, I could only walk about one-hundred yards four times a day and I was not allowed to lift more than three pounds. By June 2005, I was becoming very impatient to recover and started working out with three pound dumbbells and walking one-mile a day. I set a goal; in September I would be able to lift my kayak on my car by myself.
In mid-September I was able to get the kayak on the car and in the water at Armand Bayou. The second weekend, I started taking digital photographs of the birds and the general environment. I have been paddling Armand Bayou almost every weekend since.
Although I did see the occasional alligator in the fall, it was not until the end of March 2006 that I started seeing large numbers of them. The first two weekends that they had come out of their dens it was easy to quietly move up on them while they were on the banks. Now, I rarely see them sunning on the bank. They have been disturbed to often by paddlers.
The alligators that I have seen most often, I have named. The female with
the babies I call “Momsy”, a long thin one I call “Sunny”,
there is Fatso, Frankie and Johnny are almost always together, and the
biggest “El Jette”.
Sunny – Long & Thin
I have seen as many as sixteen alligators in one four to five hour paddle.
Usually I will see five or six in a paddle.
Fatso – Best Dinner Catcher
I have been interested in what they are eating. They are all in very good shape. A ranger at the Armand Bayou Nature center says “that they are eating fish, turtles, raccoons, baby alligators, occasionally deer, and probably some pets.”
My two favorite alligators are “Momsy” and “El Jette”.
“Momsy” the female has been guarding her nest and babies.
At times, she is quite aggressive. I have had her swim out from her nesting
area about 200 feet and circle the kayak blowing bubbles. She has a number
of last year’s babies and I have seen seven newly hatched babies.
I have heard that young alligators will stay near the mother for as long
as four years. She definitely has her own motherly-protective personality.
Momsy – Standing Watch over Young
“Momsy”
has moved away from her nesting area since mid-may. I assume she has moved
off to find a mate. I fully expect her to return to this area in late
August or September to rebuild her nest and lay eggs.
El Jette – King of the Bayou
“El Jette” I first saw on a mud bar at Marker 25. For some reason I did not recognize him for what he was, until I was within 100 feet and I had an immediate shot of adrenaline. I think that anyone seeing “El Jette” would be impressed by his size. I estimate that he is twelve to thirteen feet long and about 700 pounds. He has moved up the Bayou beyond the “Y”. I have seen him up there on the weekends. On Memorial Day I saw him at Marker 24. It may be that he moves up the bayou on the weekends to escape the crowds.
When I first started seeing these alligators I was somewhat repulsed,
but as I become more used to them I have grown to like them a great deal.
I actually am starting to think of them as my pets, they have spiced up
my exercise program and speeded up my recovery.
Frankie
& Johnnie
Showing
Interest in the Person Taking Their Photo
I am very interested in paddling new areas and finding out if the alligators in those areas act the same as these. I imagine that ‘gators of Armand Bayou see many more paddlers than other bayous of Southeast Texas.
* More photos by Ed Mayo of the Armand Bayou alligators can be viewed
at the Armand Bayou Nature Center.