Jim. I LIKE snakes and would like to hear about your adventures. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim McKenney" <jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com> To: "'Pacific Bulb Society'" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 9:23 PM Subject: [pbs] off topic; was RE: Embarrassing bulb moments > Joe's story reminded me of one of my own. Joe mentioned that most of us > have > probably done silly things now and then. Some of us, as you'll soon read, > do > stupid things, too. > > Let's say I was on the lookout for wild Hymenocallis. Actually, this one > has > nothing to do with bulbs, so it's definitely off topic. However, anyone > who > has spent time in the field collecting can relate to it easily. And it's > worth reading if only to give you a break from all the worry about getting > what you want for the holidays. Or, for those of you dealing with frigid > winds and snow drifts, to have reason to be glad that you're not in the > hot > place I was. > > About fifteen years ago I was visiting friends in Savannah, Georgia. They > were a bit perplexed when, in response to my query about sightseeing, they > started to tell me about the people stuff and I interrupted them and told > them no, I wanted a swamp. > > Well, I got my swamp. My companion Wayne and I drove over to the > Okefenokee > Swamp, found a boat rental place on the Suwannee River, and unencumbered > by > maps or compasses placed our trust in the little marks blazed on stumps > protruding from the water every hundred yards or so. We kept going, deeper > and deeper into the swamp. It was a glorious March day, too early for > mosquitoes, but warm enough for the alligators to be out: big, fat > alligators. > > Since you're reading this story from me, you already know that I got out > alive. I can't take any credit for that. I also got out without getting > lost, although I've never figured that one out, either. As several people > have pointed out to me over the course of my life, my guardian angel is > easy > to spot: he's the prematurely very gray one. > > An hour or two into the swamp, I decided I wanted to get a good close up > look at an alligator. There were plenty of them; it was just a matter of > finding one which we could get close to. Eventually I spotted a likely > candidate: down a little dead-end side slough I spotted a robust nine > footer > basking at the edge of his hole. This hole was a space at the end of the > slough; the space was maybe fifteen or twenty feet wide and roughly > circular. As we approached, the alligator showed no sign of interest in > us. > Naturally, I took that as an invitation to move in closer. By then we were > maybe twenty feet away from the alligator, and from that distance it was > apparent that the alligator was closer to twelve or thirteen feet long. It > was definitely bigger around than I am and certainly weighed a lot more. > Why > does it sound as if I'm evaluating a potential wrestling partner? > > We were sitting in the little boat all this time. I took a few pictures. > Not > satisfied, I decided to move in closer and stand up in the little boat > (have > I mentioned that it was a little boat? It certainly wasn't a twelve or > thirteen foot boat!). Now I'm not a boat person; I'm not afraid of boats > (read on: maybe I should be); but I have never had much experience with > them. If I had, I would never have stood up. The boat was rocking a bit > like > a Ferris wheel seat. Wayne was getting a bit of motion sickness. > > And that's when it happened. If you didn't exactly see this, it might be > hard to believe. But that huge alligator suddenly - and I really mean > suddenly - threw itself from the bank into the water of its hole in what > seemed to be one effortless motion. The alligator seems to have overlooked > the inconvenient circumstance that we were also utilizing much of that > same > space. A robust wave nearly capsized the boat. Miraculously I didn't go > into > the water to become gator snacks. I instinctively dropped to the bottom of > the boat (which, I'm pretty sure, was probably perpendicular to the water > surface briefly) and held on for dear life. > > Luckily for us, the alligator was neither particularly territorial nor > aggressive. That was the last we saw of it. > > Since I'm the member of the team with the background in zoology, Wayne was > inclined to believe me as I reassured him all along that alligators rarely > attack people. Little did he realize that it wasn't the aggressiveness of > the alligators he had to worry about: it was the stupidity of his > companion! > Life was hard for him for awhile, but now that he has Google and > wikipedia, > he has two good weapons for dealing with Jimmy-speak. > > I've got some good snake stories, too, if anyone is interested. But I seem > to remember that the last time I brought up the topic of snakes on this > list, the response was anything but encouraging. > > > Jim McKenney > jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com > Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7 > My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ > > Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS > Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ > > Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/ > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >