Gator Invasion

Carrie and I took the day off today to spend some time together before embarking south to Sarasota for a wedding on the beach this evening. We took a walk with Lucky and Quentin in tow this morning and then took Quentin off to daycare. Upon return we decided to talk a little shop out on our porch enjoying the last few days of our increasingly growing dirt lawn. In preparation for our new lawn coming in they came by and sprayed for weeds. Well, that took out the remaining fake grass we had cleverly disguised, but in reality our entire lawn was weeds so now it really is just dirt. So, we are sitting out there having some coffee enjoying our day off and all of a sudden a large animal comes cruising through the backyard of the neighbor and into the pond. It's extremely clear this is a big gator just by the size of its head, which is all you can see. We've had two different gators frequent our back pond, but this one is 2-3 times the size. He swims across the pond and gets out onto the bank. It was a jaw-dropping moment. It just kept going and going as it gets out of the water. It's 8-9 feet long. It could definitely eat you. The neighbors start pouring out of their houses to take a look. Everyone agrees it's bigger than anyone has ever seen since living here. And apparently no one works in our neighborhood on Fridays.

Carrie is freaking out. I am fascinated by our ever constant changing zoo back there. I have seen all kinds of animals; deer, armadillos, huge birds, 4 foot+ snakes (including ones swimming across this same pond), and of course my nemesis the still unknown beast. She thinks we have to call animal control and I want my wife to be happy so knock yourself out honey. We start with Tampa's finest. Shockingly they are of no help. I believe their response was, "Ma'am, what do you want us to do go out there and shoot it? If we moved every gator from a pond they wouldn't have anywhere to go." Okay, did we mention we are from the Midwest and keeping fat squirrels out of our bird feeders are the biggest wildlife challenge we come across? So, we have nothing outside of a man eating predator that could eat my whole family including our lovable doggy. Feed it? No, no just kidding.

What now? Well, we are stalking the gator keeping an eye on him. We are looking out the windows, running outside, taking photographic evidence - the whole nine yards. I am sure it will be fine. Best case scenario I get a new pair of boots and Carrie gets a new handbag. I think the worst part will be going out there and not seeing him. It's not the type of creature you want to sneak up on you. We'll see how it plays out. With all the gators they sort of come and eventually go about their merry way. I am attaching a few pics, but it's hard to see. I didn't want to get too close.

We are looking forward to our wedding tonight. Quinny will be staying with Aunt Peg and every time you say her name he thinks you are saying pig, so he oinks. It's hilarious! Even if you ask him to say aunt peg, he replies by oinking. Too funny!