Whenever we think of Louisiana, often images of Bayou's, moss covered trees, and alligators come to mind. We decided to head out to experience a little bit of all of them today.
Our Swamp Tour adventure started at the Cajun Pride Swamp Tours where we met our captain for the afternoon, Captain Dan (no, not that Captain Dan, a different one). Captain Dan has been guiding swamp tours on the 250 private acres of swamp for the past 18 years. He was everything you would expect of a Louisiana swamp boat captain. Tons of knowledge presented in a very fast talking New Orleans drawl that at times was hard to decipher. After a brief introduction about the swamp and boat safety, we headed out. The biggest caution he gave us was to make sure we stayed in the boat... and if for some reason we found ourselves outside of the boat and wet, to quickly get back into the boat or swim to the shore. But more importantly was the caution to not hold your phone over the side of the boat to take pictures as many phones each year end up at the bottom of the swamp, and "ain't no one goin' git it for ya". I think there any been about 30 phones lost just in 2021 so far.
After about 30 seconds of travel from the dock, we came upon our first alligators. Since it is winter time, all of the large gators (6' and larger) are currently wintering (it isn't really hibernating, but similar). They will dig themselves down into the mud and water with only their noes above the water, and slow their heartbeat down from the normal 115 beat per minute to a slow 12 beats per HOUR and they'll take a breath every 10 minutes to once per hour. The gators we saw were all between 4'-6' in length and young. The average lifespan of a Louisiana alligator is about 60 years.
One fun part of the trip was that Captain Dan would throw large marshmallows to the gators as we rode past them... some of the alligators went right after them, while others just ignored them.
In the Bayou, there is a lot more than just alligators, though. We came upon a large group (8-10) of raccoon's that looked to be anxiously waiting for the boat. Captain Dan invited Shari and the kids to throw out a bucket of food to the raccoon's so they could have an evening snack. (That explains why they weren't particularly scared of the boat approaching.)
We continued traveling along the ominous foggy bayou enjoying the gators for awhile.
Captain Dan did a presentation where he brought out pelts from all the animals in the bayou. He had fox, mink, squirrel, skunk, and possum. Then he moved on to some other creatures of the bayou. A couple of painted turtles were passed around the group on the boat, along with some Crawfish. (And we had a brief discussion about the difference between Crawfish from down South as opposed to Crawdads which we have up North).
Then the star of the show came out. Baby Bruce was a 2 year old alligator which was currently in captivity by Captain Dan, but he explained that he has to have a special permit to own him. Bruce will be released back into the wild when he turns four, so it is important that Captain Dan doesn't feed Bruce, but rather allows him to hunt for himself. The most amazing part was, after proper handling instructions, Baby Bruce was then passed around to the guests on the boat. We each had a turn to hold Baby Bruce (and have him sit on Hope's shoulder).
As far as a tour of a swamp goes... this was an amazing time for our family Even though the temperature was close to 70 degrees, in the middle of the foggy bayou, we were rather chilly (we totally forgot to bring a jacket or something warm), but the boat had some blankets for us to use. Our knowledge and appreciation for this unique landscape is richer because of the creation we explored and the knowledge and humor of Captain Dan. At the beginning of the trip, he guaranteed us that we have a 98% chance of returning to the dock and not be eaten by a gator... and on this day, the odds were ever in our favor!
What did one alligator say to the other alligator that was in his way?
Please move, I need to get bayou.