During the dry season here in Florida, wildlife concentrates around any remaining pockets of fresh water. Alligators, especially, flock to these wet areas. Interestingly, they are strong diggers and they actually create many of these deeper pools.

I counted 31 gators in one hole with an additional 11 in the channel on the other side the trail. Keep in mind, these are just the ones that I could see. Did you know gators can stay submerged for hours? Larger adults can stay under for up to six hours or longer.

As they say down here, always assume there is an alligator in any body of water larger than a rain puddle (including swimming pools and even saltwater). As of the last gator census in 2023, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission estimates there are roughly 1.3 million of them in the state.