My fascination with alligators

I have a strange fascination with alligators. I know... disturbing, but I just think they are incredible creatures. Now, I don't have any stuffed alligators in my house or framed pictures of alligators nor do I really even want to be that close to an alligator, but I'm always looking to SEE them in the wild. No alligator farms for me...I want the real deal. But, I'm also a 'fraidy cat and am terrified when I do see them in the wild. Yesterday was a perfect example. We decided to go to Brazos Bend State Park  where there are miles of trails through the woods and 300 alligators living all around. There were alligator warning signs everywhere and rules about what to do if you come in contact with an alligator, and I started to get really freaked out. Thomas had a heyday with this and told me in case of an emergency, he'd use an old wrestling move called Fireman's Carry to get us away from an alligator. He even demonstrated on me and I nearly had a heart attack. We only ended up seeing 3 alligators {although I was convinced more were watching us from the underbrush} and one otter/beaver, we aren't sure what it was. It was a gorgeous day and a great way to spend Thomas' day off!

 {gorgeous Spanish Moss all over the place down here}

{random picture of Fireman's Carry that I found online. Can't you see us running out of the woods like this?}

{otter/beaver, maybe you can identify?}