American Alligator

We took a vacation to Florida a few years ago, and one of our stops was the Everglades National Park, where we saw these beauties. There's a boardwalk that you have to stay on, because you never know where they might pop up, but it is still kind of a rush, considering that there is nothing keeping them from joining you up on the boardwalk. In fact, the first photo is of a big guy that was sleeping so close to the boardwalk that I could have pet him. I took the braver (instead of the wiser route) and laid down on the boardwalk right in front of him in order to snap this photo. Lucky for me it was a hot summer day, and he didn't feel like doing much except lazing about!