Going to see BIG LIZARDS today.

[camwyn]

Grandma and I are going to head for the Everglades today and take an AIR BOAT TOUR and go see ALLIGATORS and other big lizards.

LIZARDS! Living dinosaurs! Wingless dragons! Tasty with mustard! Huzzah!

Maybe we'll stop at a yarn store too.

In other news, I found a last name for Scary Ninja Mountie in the phone book, one that I can't even pronounce. Since I never intend to use the guy's name in print- Lester Dent didn't, so why should I presume- the pronunciation won't be an issue. But it's nice to know. (It's also worth it because it made me realise- ethnic origin affects likely religious belief, and there are a few things that feeds into.)

Also, I've decided that Law and Order: Criminal Intent is a reason to watch television again.

that's all. More later if I don't get eaten by the GIANT LIZARDS.

Comments

[ocean-song.livejournal.com]

w00t! Giant Lizards! We LOVE the giant lizards. Keep all hands and feet in the boat at all times! Hope you and Grandma are having fun. Tell her I said hi. *MWAH*

Criminal Intent scares me. But Ninja Mounties are kewl. All last night we were doing the Ninjas or Pirates routine at a party. The final blow was that Ninja's bathed more often. ;)

*MWAH*

[camwyn]

As I said in the phone post, I didn't see any wild gators. But the one on display in captivity was cool. And so was the attitude of the guy who worked there towards the woman who said she and her family used to occasionally hook gators while fishing (namely, "GRRRR... you aware that's a federal felony, woman?")

[ocean-song.livejournal.com]

Yah, I heard the phone post. Very cool. And I think you said there was a picture of you with a baby. Even though I'm somewhat ambivalent about captivity and touristization of animals, I'd still probably want to see it. I know you have the heart and honor to be sure it was ok, before you would do anything like that.

And yeah, way to put that woman in her place. Heh.

Sorry you didn't make it to the Keys. I SO want to go there sometime. Maybe we can meet there sometime in the future.

Take care and safe travels home! *hugs*

[camwyn]

Well... I was a little uncomfortable with the size of the gators' pen, I'll admit. Cannibal being thirteen feet long, I would've liked to see him with more space. On the other hand, the whole captive reptile area had a few things going for it:

1. The female who was in there with him seemed very happy indeed with the territory. Cannibal spent most of his time lazing, which I know gators do, but the female periodically got up and trundled down to check on things.

2. Both the gators were captive bred, as were most of their other reptiles. I don't hold with hauling beasts out of the wild if there's an alternative.

3. The guy's attitude. His verbal smackdown on the woman was a good sign, in my estimation. He was also pretty cold about pet stores selling gators- he repeatedly explained just how illegal that was, even though a few women kept talking about how they'd seen some for sale, etc. etc. When I mentioned that a particularly stupid pet store in NJ had offered a cayman for sale once, he snorted and asked, "Why? Who'd want 'em? They're about six times more aggressive than gators and really don't make good pets." It's hard to put the finger on it, exactly, but in general he seemed to have a greater measure of respect for reptiles in general than- for example- the 'feed the dolphins fish for a buck' people at Marineland had for their cetaceans.

4. The tortoises, turtles, and smaller lizards all had generously sized cages or enclosures, with plenty of shelter and fresh water. The crocodilians had either concrete-bottomed water areas to wallow in (in the case of the gators and the American saltie) or wading pools (in the case of the cayans and the baby gators- who, I might add, had an enclosure large enough to stall a horse, should they decide to get out of the pool). The iguana on display was a little bit smaller than max size for that species, and had a climbing-thing-filled display bigger than the one the good pet store near my office used for a similarly sized iguana.

5. Both the guy who was scratching Cannibal's nose to make him close his eyes and open his mouth, and the guy who piloted the airboat into the Everglades, very flatly stated that there would be no alligator wrestling. The specific reason given? "It puts too much stress on the animal." Even with a smaller enclosure than I think a 13-foot crocodilian should really have, that reason made me think they knew what they were doing. Other 'come and see the giant lizards' brochures for attractions in the same part of Florida- as in, 'get on US 27 and drive in the other direction for fifteen minutes'- offered "alligator wrestling shows all day long".

6. They had a display of red-ear turtles. You know, ordinary pet shop turtles? The turtles' display was as long as my car and thickly vegetated, as well as kitted out with a small pool. Considering that such turtles can be caught in backyard swimming pools and held in a seventy-five-gallon fish tank, I thought that was a pretty good sign of respect for the reptiles.

I admit that I did not go to see their live Florida panther. I know they're insanely rare and I may never see one at any other zoo, but for all that these guys knew their reptiles, I just... did not think that anything good could come of going to see the panther.

[sundre.livejournal.com]

alligators and mustard do not mix as well as you might think. try peanut butter. it has the added benefit of gluing their jaws closed, which might help you stay on the right side of 'eat or be eaten.'

[camwyn]

Well, I've only eaten alligator twice. once with a Cajun mustard dipping sauce type thing, and once as part of fettucine alfredo. So I dunno about the peanut butter, but I'll keep it in mind should the opportunity arise.

I wish..

[unsigned.livejournal.com]

..I had known you were coming down here. I missed it. At any rate, if you ever get back to this area, you must stop at "Robert is Here" on the way to the Everglades. It has the best fresh fruit shakes ever, or at least in Florida.

There key-lime shake is the best. If you want one of the combo one's get the key-lime and strawberry, not cherry.

Anyway. Hope you're enjoying S. Florida.

Re: I wish..

[camwyn]

Still in the area. Flying back tomorrow. But I'll keep the shake stand in mind. And, yeah, enjoying this part of the state, which is unusual for me.

P.S.

[unsigned.livejournal.com]

It's the dry season, and it's not been raining a whole lot down here. The gators are all congregating in the large drilled pools, and sloughs. If you go early enough, you may actually find them out on the walkways sunning themselves, and looking for thumbs.

Good luck!

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

Not sure if it is same Law & Order, but which ever one is on Wednesday night, by brother-in-law's life partner is going to be on it:

After 12 seasons as Det. Lennie Briscoe, Jerry Orbach bows out in the series' 14th-season finale, which deals with two killings. Adele Byrne: Elizabeth Hanly Rice. Belinda Gardner: Victoria Dillard. Anne Paulsen: Glynnis O'Connor. Aaron Solomon: John Benjamin Hickey. Judge Gus Stamos: David Brummel. Murray: Terence Burk.

Thought I'd plug that, at any rate!

[camwyn]

Different one. Law and Order: Criminal Intent is the one with Vincent D'Onofrio doing the scary 'get inside the bad guy's head' thing, and then displaying almost Constantinian powers of talking the bad guy into stuff. If he starts talking to a character and isn't stopped within about forty-five seconds, he'll have them spilling their motives and bad deeds like there was no tomorrow.