Gators, Snakes and Turtles Oh My!

The one and only Zam's!

Lloyd brought out this Ball Python for the boys to hold.

ZZ gets one of the gators ready for Joss to hold.

I didn't know they were vegetarian?

Sawyer's not too sure about this thing Robby is holding.

From Rattlesnakes in New Mexico to Gators in the Bayou.

Bald Cypress and other bayou plants in abundance.

Our guide, Ralph, called this an ordinary water snake, non poisonous variety.

Typical shot of the gators we saw in the swamp today.

Sawyer wouldn't hold the boa at the Rattlesnake museum in Albuquerque, but he's getting older and bolder now! Here he is with a ball python.

This was the biggest gator they would let us hold. Joss is just getting to know it here. Hey, how would you like a stranger grabbing you by the butt!

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Wow what a day on the Bayou Boeuf in Southern Louisiana! Several years ago, on the reality show Trading Spouses, there was a super neat family from Louisiana that ran a family business giving tours of the bayou and various alligator products. Joss and I said if we're ever in Southern Louisiana, we'd like to pay them a visit. Today we did.

Their son ZZ, showed us baby alligators and turtles. He showed us BIG alligators and BIG turtles and let us hold a few of them. Our boat captain was Ralph and as we were the only ones on the tour, he let us take Baylee on board. We were grateful for this as it's starting to heat up down here and we can't leave her in the car anymore. This is going to be something we need to get used to handling again. When there was snow on the ground, she was nice and cozy in the truck for a few hours. Now...not so much.

Anyway, it's still a little early in the season and most alligators are still hibernating, hidden in the dark recesses of the swamp. We were starting to think we were not going to see any on the water when Ralph turned the boat around and glided up to one, floating in the weeds. We fed him (or was it a her?) marshmallows (swampmallows?) and got some video of it snapping them down. It was fun.

We continued on down stream and ran into a total of 10 alligators, the longest was estimated at 10 feet. We learned the young ones don't hibernate so that is mostly what we saw. The older ones can live off the fat in their tails while they hibernate. I guess the younger ones are just not big enough yet? While we were going back, Joss and I spotted something black on the end of a log. Ralph turned the boat towards it and sure enough, a water snake, soaking up some rays!

My favorite thing to watch today were the turtles, hundreds of them. They line up on logs and soak up as much sun as they can. But when someone approaches, they hurtle themselves off the log and into the water. I love watching them do that, it's so funny to see them leap/fall/slip/hurtle and jump into the water all pell-mell!

When we got back to the dock, ZZ's dad, Lloyd, let us hold his ball python. So much so, that he went to take care of some other business and forgot we had the snake! Robby loved holding the snake and Sawyer actually did too! Joss wasn't so sure about it though. I think we made her pee her pants a couple of times!

After we left Zam's, we went to the local eatery, Trudy's and had a little dinner before driving the 90 miles back to our campground in Baton Rouge. Thanks to everyone at Zam's Swamp Tours, we had a great day!!!