I almost hit an alligator this morning

[texscottyd]

Ok, maybe ‘almost hit’ is a bit dramatic, but I did have to stop for an alligator lounging in the middle of a country backroad this morning.  Seriously.  

I couldn’t sleep, so decided a couple of hours of seat time before work started might clear my head.  Just around sunrise, on a little farm-to-market road that winds along the edge of the Brazos River, I rounded a corner to find the road blocked by an alligator… big one, too, maybe 8 or 9 feet.  

I stopped.  He (she?) stared at me for a minute or so.  I started getting nervous about what to do if it charged at me.  And then it disappeared into the ditch and woods at the edge of the road… kind of a surreal experience.      

[MightBeSasquatch]

You're telling me through this entire experience, a minute or so stop, you never once decided to get off the bike and take a picture with the alligator?!?!?!? I really hope the photo game thread revives and a picture with an alligator is on the menu. 

 

Happy you're safe and sound though in all honesty!

[betoney]

14 minutes ago, texscottyd said:

Just around sunrise, on a little farm-to-market road that winds along the edge of the Brazos River, I rounded a corner to find the road blocked by an alligator… big one, too, maybe 8 or 9 feet.

Wow, that would be a little shocking.  I know that part of Texas is on the gulf coast but do you get many alligators?

[texscottyd]

27 minutes ago, MightBeSasquatch said:

You're telling me through this entire experience, a minute or so stop, you never once decided to get off the bike and take a picture with the alligator?!?!?!?

It’s funny, I almost included a line in my post about “sorry no pics, but I was a bit preoccupied with the situation at hand”.   Another data point that I need to invest in a GoPro.  

Does this count? 😉

[texscottyd]

34 minutes ago, betoney said:

Wow, that would be a little shocking.  I know that part of Texas is on the gulf coast but do you get many alligators?

It’s not uncommon, but highly dependent on where you are geographically located.   They tend to be dense in the wetland around the major rivers… The Brazos and the Trinity being the big ones.  Our house is built on a couple of acres that backs onto Oyster Creek, which is a natural creek that feeds into the Brazos a few miles downstream.   I see alligators in the creek behind the house on occasion, but they’re usually not the huge ones.   A notable exception was immediately after the flood events with Hurricane Harvey, when a lot of wildlife was inadvertently relocated.   There was a MASSIVE one that showed up in my neighbor’s driveway…  the game warden ultimately trapped it and relocated to the state park. 

[fjrchuck]

LOTS of gators in the State park. I travel down to the Houston area for 3 weeks twice a year (Spring & Fall) and on Sunday mornings we do the park walk, about 5 miles. Usually see between 25 and 50 gators of various sizes. 😎

And usually we get passed (in my friends Jeep) by a few sport bike riders on Sunday mornings. A regular "mini dragon" by the power plant......👍

[texscottyd]

3 hours ago, fjrchuck said:

A regular "mini dragon" by the power plant......

Hush… you’re giving away all my secrets.  😉

[piotrek]

Very cool... I had a "almost-near-gator" experience back in 1993. I took my sister to experience Mardi Gras, and we decided to stay in Biloxi, just east of New Orleans. I was VERY low on fuel and chanced it to the next station through a shortcut of sorts. Total darkness... there were NO lights on that road, and about a third way through a signs that read "Beware of Alligators". No way I had the fuel to turn back. Imagination ran amok 😱. That shortcut felt like forever. Great memories. 😂

[Garz747]

No gators here but a deer scared the living daylights out of me when I had a Yamaha RD 350LC many years back.  My buddy hit an alligator on the Florida Turnpike once and damaged his front spoiler and radiator big time.

[Warchild]

Well dayumn, an actual alligator - I thought I was going to read a story about a close call with large truck tire carcass lying in the road. I think I'd rather have the tire carcass!  😧

[2and3cylinders]

Gives me chills considering the possibility of high or low siding into a ditch and having a close encounter with a gator!

[texscottyd]

7 hours ago, Garz747 said:

No gators here but a deer scared the living daylights out of me

I actually have hit a deer.   One Star:  Do not recommend.  😉

[tktplz]

On 4/15/2022 at 9:02 AM, texscottyd said:

kind of a surreal experience.      

I hit thumbs up since they don't have a "WOW" emoji, LOL! Living in Louisiana for the 60 something years of my life and haven't had that happen. No, I'm not jealous, !

[Brian]

FM762 at Brazos Bend SP is the only twisties we get around here. It is my preferred drive when want to just get on the bike for no reason. Texas Hill Country is over 4 hours away. (insert sad face)

No Aussies have chimed in yet for an "American alligator vs. Outback Croc" debate?

[2and3cylinders]

Crocs I understand are smarter and nastier.  We also have crocs here!