Gatorland Zoo Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of the Gatorland Adventure.  I just realized that some of you may be wondering where Layla is.  She has to spend all the long holiday weekends with her dad.  But I'm sure whatever she did with her dad was also a great time.

 This is Chester again.  He's slowly moving his way onto land.  Pretty big, huh?!

 Probably shouldn't post these but I'm going to.  Gator mating season was supposed to be over in April, but evidently these two didn't get the memo.

 Rossi just finished feeding some goats and a yak and all of us forgot about taking a picture until she was done.

 Flamingos....real ones.  Not plastic yard ornaments.

 One turkey who is safe from the Thanksgiving table.

 Big snake.  Made out of plastic/plaster.

 Daughter in law LOVES chickens.

 This guy was at the bait shop.  We think he forgot his wallet.

 Here is Chester again.  The camera just does not do justice to his size.

 Big fake gator photo op.  Poor Rossi was scared.

 Some of the big guys just out sunning and chilling in the water.

 Most of the day, the smaller gators just slept.

 This one is using a turtle as a pillow.  Poor turtle couldn't even stick his head out.

 This guy was on the roof overlooking the gator ponds.  Like he was the guard on duty.

 This turtle is just chillin' with the gators, getting some sun.  I love how he's all sprawled out, like whooa man.

 Our friend the Nile crocodile again.

 Round 2 of the feeding of the birds. 

 Wade is here for this round.  He's not particularly fond of birds, but he enjoyed this.  The parrot loved Wade too.  I think it has something to do with the tattoos, lol.

 A couple of family portraits.  Feeding the birds this time was nice because there weren't as many people.

 A really clost up shot of Chester.

 Wade was gobbling at the turkey and the turkey was trying to figure out who the other turkey was.

 Another croc, but I can't remember what kind.

 This tickled us...the birds were just standing on the gators backs, riding around.

 Chester out of the water finally.  Took him all day to do that.

 Big gator in one of the ponds.  Thank goodness for the fence.  If you look really close you'll see he has some HUGE jowls.

 Florida Scrub cow, scratching his neck on the tree.  These cows were brought to Florida by the spaniards in the 1500's.  They were domesticated by the Seminole Indians.

 On the nature path there are all kinds of birds nesting in the trees.  Diana spotted this momma with her little baby.  He's the fur ball under her wing. 

 You can barely see the baby's eye between the branches at the bottom of this picture.

 This bird was literally like 3 inches from me on a railing.

 Gator was heading towards the bird.  We thought we were gonna see the food chain in action.  Glad we didn't.

 They only have the two Scrub cows at the zoo and you can only see them on the nature trail or if you ride the train.

 Another type of croc.  I believe this is a saltwater croc.

 This alligator was right up against a fence not near any water.  We asked a worker about it and he said the gator just liked being alone and stayed up there by the fence alot.  His nose was right at the fence.  We thought he was dead at first but a fly kept land on his nose and making him blink his eyes.

 Wade, Rossi and Diana on the 3rd train ride of the day.

And the scrub cows are the end of our tour.  If you ever want to see true Florida if you're on vacation, go to the Gatorland Zoo on the south side of Orlando.  Much cheaper than going to Disney world and just as much fun. And it's been here in Orlando since 1949, when it was called the Bird and Wildlife Institute.  And the lines are way shorter.  Hope you enjoyed looking at gators, gators, and more gators.  Oh and lots of birds, lol.  Gators scare me, but they fascinate me too.