Crocodiles, Alligators, Turtles, Oh My!

Gordy, Karen, Colin, Blake & I headed up towards St. Augustine to the Alligator Farm Zoological Park today.  It was founded in 1893 and is one of the oldest zoos in the country. We learned that there are only 2 types of alligators in the world- the American alligator and the Chinese Alligator.  Everything else is a crocodile.  They have 23 different species of crocodilians.  And between the alligators and the crocodiles, they were everywhere - hundreds of them.  We were also treated to tortoises, snakes and exotic birds. I actually took over 100 pictures:  here are a few:



One of the few not-real alligators.

 As soon as we arrived, a guide told us they were about to feed the vultures so we hurried over to the "Birds of Africa" area.  Watching the feeding of the vultures involves seeing them rip apart pretty white rats.  Now I know why noone thinks fondly of vultures.  The rats are actually raised on a rat farm for the purpose of feeding the vultures and the reptiles.


One of the pretty birds.




Vulture - One of the not-so pretty birds.



Albino Alligator from the bayous of Louisiana.  Pure white except for a little tan on the top of his head.



Galapagos Tortoises- about 600 pounds





Geoffroys Marmoset- hard to get a picture of them thru the wire, but they were very cute.




Not real.




Not real.



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Real-Notice the mouth is taped shut.







Colin & Blake standing in front of the underwater viewing window with Maximo, the largest animal in the park- 15'3" long and 1,250 pounds - From Australia




Gomek- one of the largest crocodilians ever on display- nearly 18 feet long and almost 2,000 pounds.  Gomek is now preserved and on display here.





At least the alligators ate the rats all in one bite.



Baby Crocodiles





One of the boys' favorite crocodiles.  They thought the long narrow snout was neat



 Alligator Farm was very enjoyable and interesting.  We spent about 3 hours there and then headed back to our condo. 



Blake wanted one last walk on the beach with Grandpa.



Found a couple of jellyfish.



Then Blake & Grandpa joined the rest of us at the pool for the last day of their visit in Palm Coast. Even though the weather has been cool for their stay here, we've had a lot of great "adventures."   Tomorrow we head to Orlando.  We'll be going to SeaWorld tomorrow in spite of the rainy forecast and Animal Kingdom on Tuesday.