My brother inspired my love for kayaking along the spring fed rivers in Florida. Each time I visited him and his wife, I was determined to see manatees. However, the manatees only come into the springs when the ocean waters they live in become cold in winter months because the water is warmer water in the springs – the temperature is a constant 72 degrees Fahrenheit. For many ears I was either too early or too late to see manatees, but never seemed to miss the gators.
One visit my brother, his wife, and I canoed Alexander Springs. While cruising the river my brother fished and caught three bass. As he admired his catch, other river travelers passing by told us there was a gator up the way with babies sitting on her back. This I wanted to see. My brother agreed.
He used shoe laces to secure the bass to a tree along the river. Pretty ingenious we all thought. The three of us continued along the river and spotted the mother gator with many little babies on her back. Usually I am terrified of gators, but I thought this was so great I had no fear at all! I took pictures and ‘oohed’ and ‘aaahed’ and acted like a tourist that just arrived in Florida.
As we returned to retrieve the bass, suddenly my brother jumped out of the canoe and swam to his fish. At first we couldn’t see the reason for my brother’s frantic actions. Soon we noticed the thieving otters trying to steal his bass. They must have thought “WHAT AN EASY CATCH TODAY!” My brother, however, had no intentions of allowing those fish to be apprehended by those otters. He was fearless and unconcerned that the otters could present a problem or even bite him. If it was me I would have given those cute little otters the fish. Their faces seemed confused as they watched him retrieved his bass> We finished our canoeing and my brother tells the story of how he almost lost his bass because I wanted to see some gator babies on their mother’s back.
It was a great day on the river.
Tell us your adventures.