Alligator Encounter

Good morning
I have lived in florida for about 18 months and I have always been aware of alligators. In the beginning, I was always on the look for them. I live by a pond so there was a very good chance that I would see them.  I was nervous if I saw them and nervous if I did not.


  As I got my Florida bearings, I began to notice that they stayed away from humans  and they are a tremendously helpful force in maintaining  nature's balance.  They create gator holes by thrashing with their tails and these abandoned  holes become homes to multiple  sea and land  creatures. They are amazing predators and keep the ecosystem in balance by killing and eating the old and weakened animals. They can stay under water for 8 hours without taking a breath and they have come back from extinction. They are remarkable creatures of land and water  and have been on the earth for at least 98 million years.

The other day I met an 8 foot alligator. I was  reading outside  on a beautiful spring morning. I looked up and saw an alligator about 15 feet from where I was sitting. I said something loud and the alligator looked up, leaped in the air and went back down the bank to the water.  My heart eventually began to calm down and I went over to the side of the pond and it was still there. The alligator must have stayed around for about 10 minutes and has not been seen since.....

Totem meaning of the alligator.........When an alligator shows up it is important they they be seen as a force of nature with a strong message for us. They are fierce, patient and teach us how to be instructed by our emotions but not ruled by them. When we are visited by them, we can remember that we are stepping in powerful sources  of intuitition, energetic knowing and connection to our deepest selves.

Interesting factoid is that alligators roamed as far north as New Jersey up until the 20th century.......