Mr. Fenn, were you ever concerned for Beowulf eating or biting your guests, customers, or family? ~ miser
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Thanks for the question miser. Humans feel an inherent apprehension when they’re around alligators, so the natural tendency is to stay out of biting range. Twice a week I fed Elvis and Beowulf beef liver. Beowulf would swim up and take it his food from my hand. He was a gentleman. It was Elvis I had to watch, and although he was just two feet long, when he smelled the liver he would lunge at my hand. He reminded me of a math teacher I had in high school.
One early winter day I was looking for Beowulf because it was time to put him in his winter quarters where the water was slightly heated. Elvis was already there enjoying the warmth. I finally found Beowulf under some lily pads and grabbed him by his tail. He was about 4 feet long and I expected him to thrash and resist his capture. Instead, he was lethargic, didn’t move at all. His eyes and mouth were closed. I think he was just cold.
When I sold our gallery, the new owner was showing her insurance agent around the property. They opened the gate leading to the pond just in time to see Beowulf chasing a fat duck across the yard. That did it for the two reptiles and they were shipped to a bayou in Louisiana. My alligators were not good pets but they were good for business, because everyone likes to look at them. I am reminded of a poem from Alice in Wonderland:
How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!
How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!
Fun Question and Answer! Thanks ‘miser’ and Forrest. So you can smile at a crocodile (alligator) if you keep your distance and don’t have liver in your hand……lol…
And I have to laugh because I just posted about something on Alice in Wonderland on my Facebook page under Tuesday’s Treasure….. it seems it’s Thursday’s too….:)
Forrest – Because inquiring minds ALWAYS want to know:
http://www.loyno.edu/lucec/natural-history-writings/where-do-alligators-go-winter
Where do they go during our winter cold months? The average person probably thinks they “hibernate.” The actually brummate. That is, they react to a cold environment by slowing their metabolic activity, but certainly not to the deep torpor of true hibernation.
interesting E*……thanks
I think we also might want to know who thought up the names Beowulf and Elvis….and if there were any particular reasons for them…..
Forrest – And that made me think of what we humans do in Winter,…in my neck of the woods, anyway,…that would be similar. Well,…some of us go stay in a burrow-like shelter called a yurt,…and then we come out,…to let the sun,…shinning on the snow,…increase our metabolic activity,…and then we ski down the mountain,…making the same pattern in the snow that the Alligator does with his tail in the water:
http://blog.svtrek.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Pioneer-Yurt-backcountry-ski-17.jpg
No need to brummate here! 🙂
I think it is a good time of the year to Brummate in front of the fire. I like that word…:)
E* time to hit the slopes. Watch out for Forrest’s dog hotdogging it!
https://vine.co/v/MAUWYKelMvV
Thats great! Certainly no hibernation here. 6th trip of the season. A final sweep before the bitter cold. Have all the equipment necessary for the job.
I suspected someone would ask where those two guys got their names. Elvis was named by the young son of a client. He thought the alligator looked like a famous singer of the day. I think the kid was over- dosed on Lollypop at the time. I named Beowulf after the hero in a poem I was reading. It’s not very romantic but there you have it.
I was going to comment how I enjoyed the lawns at the gallery, and glad the alligators were no longer there, for I do not believe I would have gone out if they were. What just caught my attention is how you spelled lollipop…’Lollypop’. Not sure why, but certainly going to think about it.
Gosh, I think I understand now, but certainly not positive. Have to go back and look through the books again.
If by chance you read this, Mr. Fenn, how long did you and Mrs. Fenn own Buttercup, Lollipop, and the others?
Hello, Pdenver…and Forrest Fenn?!!! (Oh my gosh! I hope he reads this!)
Now I’m smiling. 🙂
Speaking of smiles…and Buttercup…do you know who has the sweetest smile?
You guessed it…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh7eAG2jJkA
“Looks like someone’s been down here with the ugly stick.”
Makes me smile every time. LOL!
Laugh or cry. Smile or die. That’s what I always say.
http://www.john-howe.com/portfolio/gallery/data/media/93/s-Funeral-port.jpg
Hello JC1117. Now you have me giggling. Actually, my comments and questions are quite serious. I thought perhaps I understood this “Featured Question,” but as many times, I’ve gone in the wrong direction. Have you noticed what I had pointed out in regards to the spelling? I’ve questioned things in TTOTC. Hint? It’s been something that’s been on my mind for quite some time. With the mention of Lollypop, I had remembered the chapter in TFTW, “saving buttercup and lollipop.” Was he suggesting to look into the story? Again, it was something I went back to reread. After doing so, I had wondered just how long Mr. and Mrs. Fenn had owned them, along with the others, hence my question. Does he read our posts? I have no idea whether he does.
JC1117 – Your posts always always make me smile! You are so upbeat I love your outlook on life. Lollipops are always so pretty I never want to eat one though because then it wouldn’t be pretty. Or remember the commercial about how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? Thanks for the snickers, JC!😋
Hi, Lifesablaze.
I remember that tootsie pop commercial really well. In fact…I was reminded of it just last year while walking through the men’s department of a Target store.
There it was…printed on a t-shirt…
https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.11836593.8815/ra,unisex_tshirt,x2950,fafafa:ca443f4786,front-c,648,590,750,1000-bg,f8f8f8.lite-1u2.jpg
I blushed and moved along quickly so others wouldn’t notice marked reaction. :/
Besides…I learned how many years ago…if old, wise owls are to be trusted. 🙂
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/c4/63/88/c463886cc1181398a774e68570a77cac–tootsie-pops-leave-me-alone.jpg
Here if Florida they are in every pond, lake and river. I do a lot of bass fishing and the problem is if you don’t get your fish to shore fast enough then a big Beowulf would get him a free meal.
How could Beowulf not be romantic, Forrest? 🙂
I am glad they got back to a more normal environment for them.
Hmmm. I doth recall this sweet little poem from not too long ago…
🙂
Thanks for the cool answer f. All animals have their own personalities and all are different. I like the well behaved ones as well as the wild type. Normally, the gators don’t eat during the winter. Thanks for sharing your life with us.
Beowulf would swim up and take it his food from my hand.
it ?
It’s been a while since reading this “Featured Question”.
The heated waters in his early winter quarters must have been comfortable enough to keep his blood moving. Expecting some excitement but he must have just been cold, leads me to believe that I am not the only one to pass that pond while in pursuit of Indulgence. Any closer and it would have bit me, the gator of course. While botg, it helps to remember what you are looking for. Come on Beowulf, give me a lickery kiss. (: