3\/12\/2021<\/p>\n
Alligators in Arkansas? Who knew, right? That thought never crossed my mind – but they are here and not just small ones but some really big ones apparently. They even have an alligator hunting season here in the fall.<\/p>\n
Had I not just picked up a brochure on alligators at the Arkansas Post a few minutes before I would have thought the fisherman was pulling my leg when he asked if we had seen any gators.<\/p>\n
Leaving the Arkansas Post the other day we stopped at this small boat ramp on a bayou to take a couple of pictures. This fisherman pulls in with a boat on a trailer, he obviously noticed we were from out of state, so he asked if we had seen any gators yet. We said no, so he told us that just down the road, at this bridge, we could probably see some. We didn’t, and I was still wondering if he was not just toying with us. There are NO signs posted anywhere about Alligators.<\/p>\n
A couple of days later we were talking to someone working here in the park and she not only confirmed there were gators around but told us where we could probably see some really big ones – back at the Arkansas Post of all places. There is a small pond there, that warms up faster than the river, some really big ones apparently hang out there this time of year.<\/p>\n
The other day we walked along a small part of the shore of this pond. After talking to her we jumped in the jeep and sure enough there are gators in that pond. Now the few we were able to see, were extremely skittish, disappearing as fast as they were spotted.<\/p>\n
The pond is only a couple of acres and has a couple of islands in it, we only found 1 gator on the outside bank and he was in the water and gone before either one of us could raise the camera. Of the 6-7 we spotted only 1 of them was what I would consider big, guessing 6-8 ft, the others were probably 3-4 ft long. The big one was well hidden and could only be see from the far bank. The gators were not the only ones skittish, the turtles and snakes were hard to photograph because they were gone in a heart beat also.<\/p>\n
The lady we talked to, is staying in another CG about 2-3 miles as the crow fly’s, around 35 miles by road, we drove over the other day, before meeting her. She said there are lots of gators around that CG, as in be careful when leaving your camper. Apparently in the summer the concrete pads shaded by campers make for a nice cool spot for the gators to hang out.<\/p>\n
Anyway, one story she relaid was, durning mating season, at the sea wall in the CG, it’s not uncommon for large bull gators to have an epic battle tearing up the ground bad enough that they need to bring in a tractor to re-level the ground and replant the grass.<\/p>\n
Also of note when Europeans first arrived gators could be found as far up the Arkansa River as Little Rock AR and up the Mississippi as far as Memphis TN.<\/p>\n
We’ll be keeping an eye out for more gators and I have a lead on a good place to spot some rattle snakes which as I understand can be found in abundance here.<\/p>\n
This guy came just a few miles from the CG the lady is staying in, so less than 10 miles from us, she suggested we look it up. Found on the web.<\/p>\n
More goo below the pictures.<\/p>\n
Hunters in Arkansas catch longest alligator in state’s history.<\/p>\n