Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve

I can hear the alligator, but I cannot see her. I'm standing on a wood platform elevated a foot or two above the water, but the sound still startles me. She may no longer carry her babies on her back, but she remains close to and protective of them. She sees me on the platform, a large beast with three extra metal legs and a clicking black device on top of them.

I look around and realize I'm standing between the large reptile and one of her leathery tots. Off to my left side, the tiny gator is sunbathing on a log, its head down and legs splayed out to the side.

Mother emits a deep, rumbling growl of considerable volume. I suspect she's lying in the mud across the pond, about twenty feet away.

But she sounds ever so much closer.