Weather: Sunny Miles: 7.5 Time: 4.5 hours Temp: 68-76 Wind: 10-20 mph Water depth: Medium
I decided to repeat this trip I made 3 years ago with Ernie Green. I’m here to evaluate the health of the wildlife and the river in this area, specifically the alligators. I’ve been documenting my findings on the upper St Johns now for over 15 years. We did not see the White Pelicans as we did three years ago but that’s always a crap shoot. We didn’t put in until noon so most of the wading birds were feeding in smaller numbers and not gathered in flocks. The gators though were in large numbers due to low water with plenty of banks for sunning. I’ve rarely seen so many specimens (12′ and over) in such a short time, and for that I’m thankful in that there are fewer of these giants every year.
I have talked with the FWC and have advocated for a slot limit on gator hunting like we do with other hunted species. Every year the average size of the gators taken are smaller than the years before. These specimen gators can be as much as 80 years old. The attrition rate of these colossal breathtaking creatures can not be made up. As long as the annual Gator hunt is nothing more than a trophy hunt there will always be less of these giants in our midst until there are only stories to tell.
We had an unprecedented hard freeze a couple of weeks ago and is why all the lush greenery has been so severely damaged. Should be back to normal by Spring. With Ernie Green and my nephew Troy Nathan.
Try and do something every day to save our wild Florida. Be part of of it. Enjoy the Pics
