Slice of Life Challenge Day 18
One year old alligators wait to be tossed into the wild swamp.
When I was scrolling through Facebook yesterday, I enjoyed the pictures and video of one of my daughter’s friends, Lizzy. She and her mom had gone out that morning to a rice farm near Abbeville to help release baby alligators back into the wild. The farmers harvest the eggs and incubate them. In the spring, they hatch them. I recall years ago when these same farmers showed up in the parking lot of our school hauling crates of dead grass. When the crates were opened, we could see soft white eggs popping up from the grass bed. When the farmer handed an egg to a student, he instructed them to rub the eggs and the tiny alligator began to emerge. The stimulation helped them hatch out of the egg. Of course, in the wild, the momma gator rubs her eggs when the time comes. The kids were so thrilled to be hatching the little gators. I even did it, as scared as I am of reptiles.
The first gator to be tossed. Behind notice all the bags. Each holds 1-2 baby alligators.
Lizzy and her mom, Lisa were invited to help release some of the baby alligators that were hatched last year. They were tossing them into the swamp. According to Lizzy, the eggs had been harvested, incubated, and hatched a year ago. Because of the policies of Wildlife and Fisheries, a percentage of the hatch has to be returned to the wild. This is the way they do it. A grand celebration of lively gator tossing.
From Lizzy: ” It was fun to handle baby alligators (in a safe environment with skilled professionals). It was a bit scary when the animals wiggled around (I am a person who does not like the company of snakes because of their serpentine movements) since the motion is a bit creepy to me. I often forgot that their mouths were banded (before we tossed them), so when I would grab them from the sack/ground, my natural reaction was always to flinch each time the alligator lifted its head in defense. Overall, it was a lively and entertaining experience.”
This video shows Lizzy’s mom, Lisa, tossing a gator.
Reflections on the Teche 