Saturday, June 26, 2010

Gators of Michigan

We managed to survive the week of thunderstorms that past this way, the first one hit and knocked out our power for two days, with the generator and fathers day dinner at the kids we managed to get through it without to much of a problem. Then three days later we got hit with another series of storms that took the power out again for about 36 hours, the generators getting a good work out this week.

We brought Nick our grandson back out with us for a few days, after playing about 30 rounds of Putt Putt golf we decided to take a little road trip today.

The kids have been to Florida 4 times and never seen a alligator, not to many of them at Disney World, so we went to a little place I found out about on the internet.


Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary
, this is a small place for reptiles to find a safe haven and the proper care after they have been mistreated by people that thought that they would make good house pets.

The mission of Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary & Zoological Garden's is to inspire and educate people to care for the environment by providing fun and educational experiences that lead to understanding the natural world.



This is one of the best little places that we have been to in a long time, they make sure that everyone there from the youngest to the oldest takes part in being involved with the animals, from holding them to feeding them.



Australian Bearded Lizard




African tortise


Five year old gator





...........................................Tom hiding from Godzilla





During our two hours there today we learned more about gators then all the time that we've spent in Florida. They have them trained to respond to voice commands and each has their own color stick that they react to. When he called them by name they would come out of the pond to be feed, one at a time.

We also learned what they are saying by how much of their hear or body is sticking out of the water. While we were there the biggest male,Godzilla kept chasing the smaller males from the pond, they would hide in the grass and make different sounds, asking for permission to return to the pond, Godzilla would make a certain sound and they would return, but not to close to Godzilla.

The good thing is that Nick's sister Rachel is coming back out and we get to go back there to take her.


.alligatorsanctuary.com