Mel, I've had similar experiences with lily pads here around Houston. Paddling on the Sheldon Reservoir a few months back, the surface was fair coated with lily pads. The bow of the K-light gliding through them set the pads spinning in opposite directions like green gear wheels. The sight of the slowly whirling pads, each sprinkled with pearl-sized beads of water, was hypnotic. The Sheldon Reservoir is about 20 mi NE of Houston geographically, but much closer to LA in the feeling of the place. As my friend and I were putting in we were approached by a good old boy who was carrying a sack and allowed as how HE wouldn't go into the water in a boat that a 'gator could bite through. Turns out that what he had in the sack were fish heads that he'd brought to feed the 'gators. He was kind enough to change his plans, though, and he left without summoning all of his friends for supper. janet, somewhere south of No Tx *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> The Sheldon Reservoir is about 20 mi NE of Houston geographically, but > much closer to LA in the feeling of the place. As my friend and I were > putting in we were approached by a good old boy who was carrying a sack > and allowed as how HE wouldn't go into the water in a boat that a 'gator > could bite through. Hey, if you like Sheldon, you ought to give Angelina-Neches DAM B a try. Near Woodville, East of Livingston. I was there a couple weeks ago, scoping the place out for a bit of December duck hunting and saw the *biggest* wild/live gator I have ever seen. On the bank, basking in the morning sun, that sucker was an easy 12 footer, and he was highly annoyed that I had slipped across his 100 yard barrier of lily pads. Glad my kayak makes me look like a 15ft blue gator... He dove off the bank for the bottom of his pool, while I made a hasty retreat back to the river channel. There are lots of partially isoated ponds off the river channel, a couple of real cypress tree backwaters, and of course, the clear, black water of the Angelina river just a few miles upstream. Richard Walker Houston, TX http://www.neosoft.com/~rww/kayak_log.html *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Mon, 1 Nov 1999, R. Walker wrote: > *biggest* wild/live gator I have ever seen. On the bank, basking in the > morning sun, that sucker was an easy 12 footer, and he was highly > annoyed Sounds like your gators are just too small to be laid back. Saturday we put in at Flamingo (bottom of Everglades NP) on the canal that goes up to Coot Bay Pond. There are 2 ramps side by side. We chose the left one because there were 3-4 gators sunning themselves on the right one. (Or you might call it the wrong one.) When we returned, one had moved over to the left one. He was over to one side so I was able to get out some 10 feet away. He looked happy so I wasn't too concerned, and when the others came up they got out too. After a closer look I estimated him (her?) at 13-14 feet. As we were loading, a little blue heron actually got within about 5 feet from him and survived, so he must have already had lunch. e Elaine Harmon - eilidh_at_dc.seflin.org - eharmon_at_cs.miami.edu *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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