The winter, or lack of Winter, of 2008-2009 we had a really bad drought in S. Florida. I think it was the worst in something like 50-75 years or something. What better to do a week before the rainy season starts than to take a ride at Shark Valley?
I don't remember why but for some reason I had to go alone this time. I think Natalie was working or something and she really missed out. This was another of my top 5 rides at Shark Valley. On a bad day we might see five gators riding the full 15 mile loop. This time I saw probably at least 1,500.
It had been so dry that year that even the canals were mostly dried up. I should have tried to dig up some shark teeth in the mud but I didn't think of it at the time. The rangers said they have never seen it like that before. It looked nothing like the Shark Valley I was used to seeing. Instead it looked like Africa. Where there was water there would be 100 alligators fighting for a spot in the mud. At one of the mud pits I rode by I actually saw two gators get in a fight over their terroritory. I never saw this in the wet season because there was so much water there were no turf wars. But on this day they were aggressive with each other.
Not only were they aggressive with eachother but they were overly afraid of me. Alligators run to the water when they are spooked. I'm king on land, but they are king in water and they know it. When there is no water they are out of their comfort zone. So while normally I could ride my bike and almost run them over while they get sun on the road, this time they would take off long before I even got close. In the past I had several times where I wasn't looking where I was going and then when I looked down I noticed I came within a couple feet of a gator on the road. No biggie, they never got aggresive. They just laid there soaking up the sun. Well I'm smart enough to know that this would not be a good time to get close to these gators and I tried to keep a good distance.
Some pictures below. Note, any of the limestone that is showing in these pictures is normally underwater all year long.
A gator trying to cool off.
Guarding the road.
When I went around him he decided to take off. On a normal day this thing wouldn't have moved.
This is the main canal, all dried up.
Prime real estate, a mud hole. It's not normal to see them so close to eachother in the canal.
This one was mad at me from the other side of the canal.
Look at all those gators. This is normally a lake, by the tower at the end of the loop. The only time I have ever seen it dried up.
Some pictures looking down from the tower. The lake underneath was nearly gone. A lot of exposed limestone.
Tri-Colored Heron
I normally couldn't get down to this spot because it's usually under 4-5 feet of water.
This is the bridge where Phil and I were petting the gator swimming underneath a year earlier.
Normally a pond here.
Compare that to the picture after Fay when the water was on the road in this same spot.
Only time I've seen these dry. The channels that the water goes through to cross the street.
This one shows just how bad the drought was. I'm standing right above the channel that passes the water from the other side of the road to the river. You can see the channel is bone dry and the river is 50 feet away. Again, never seen the channel dry before.
Look at all those eyes looking back at me. This was a couple days before all the other pics on another night time ride. We couldn't see just how bad the drought was that night.
This one scared Natalie. It was by walkway going to the tower and it walked right up towards us. She thought it was going to eat her or something.
