Good Catch!
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (118820)
Gainesville, Florida
July 31, 2021 11:49am CST
I went on a little hike this morning to one of our wonderful nature parks just outside the city limits, trying to get in a little exercise before the day's expected heat arrived. I chose to hike a trail I haven't been on in a while, one that meandered through swamp and prairie land, and one that never seems to disappoint in delivering views of abundant wildlife.
And sure enough, as soon as I came across the first body of water, I spotted an alligator slowly gliding through the water toward the shore. I was sure it was going to climb out of the water and pull itself up onto the shore to warm itself in the sun, so I grabbed my phone so I could get a few pictures.
But the gator had different plans, and thankfully I was right there to capture it. It wasn't headed to the banks of the water to sun itself, it was stalking its next meal, an Asian carp.
So I was in the perfect place at the perfect time, and was able to snap a photo before the gator munched down its breakfast.
Have you ever been able to capture a great image at the perfect time without any foreplanning?
17 people like this
17 responses
@lovebuglena (43191)
• Staten Island, New York
31 Jul 21
Sometimes we get very lucky and catch something at the right moment. I think it happened to me with an animal but I don't remember which or where it was.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
31 Jul 21
I have the worst luck when trying to photograph animals. I was really lucky this time, not only capturing a great shot, but making sure it was in focus too!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Aug 21
@lovebuglena Thankfully, I was close enough that I didn't have to zoom in at all. I just had to make sure to keep my phone steady enough for it to auto-focus on the gator.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43191)
• Staten Island, New York
1 Aug 21
@moffittjc Yeah, it's not always easy to get a shot that is very focused, especially if you have to zoom in.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
31 Jul 21
Most of the time, there's not much action to be seen with gators. They are either just floating in the water, or laying on the ground sunning themselves. It's not often that you can catch one in action!
2 people like this
@CarolDM (203449)
• Nashville, Tennessee
31 Jul 21
@moffittjc I remember seeing them at the zoo in New Orleans.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
31 Jul 21
@CarolDM We don’t need to put them in zoos here. Just look around for any body of water and you’ll find plenty of them!
2 people like this
@FourWalls (62755)
• United States
31 Jul 21
Great photo!!!
I did manage to get a couple of really good ‘lightning in a bottle’ photos at concerts over the years.
Hope that gator likes seafood. 
3 people like this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
31 Jul 21
My best photos always end up being the ones I didn't realize I took! lol
2 people like this
@wolfgirl569 (96490)
• Marion, Ohio
1 Aug 21
That is a great shot. I almost never am ready
3 people like this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
1 Aug 21
That's pretty much me every time. But at least you got a trail cam that can take some pretty interesting photos on your property. I have a trail cam too, but all I would probably ever capture is a neighbor walking their dog, or a house cat galavanting around the neighborhood. You know, boring suburbia stuff.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (96490)
• Marion, Ohio
2 Aug 21
@moffittjc I get plenty of cats 
They make some smaller easy to hide cameras now that you could put out on the trails you walk.
They make some smaller easy to hide cameras now that you could put out on the trails you walk.1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Aug 21
@wolfgirl569 I just bought a sweet pair of night vision goggles for my son for Christmas, we're going to have lots of fun out on the trails and on our camping adventures!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
31 Jul 21
I usually don’t either. I got super lucky this time!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
31 Jul 21
They are very invasive, but the authorities stock them like crazy in our lakes and canals, because they eat all the algae and grass that are choking our waterways. It's like 6 of one, half a dozen of another. You introduce one problem in order to solve another problem!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
31 Jul 21
@NJChicaa Yeah, the hydrilla have taken over our waterways and have really clogged everything up! And in some places the algae is pretty bad too from all the nitrates that wash into the water from farms.
2 people like this
@NJChicaa (116304)
• United States
31 Jul 21
@moffittjc That is crazy! I teach about the hydrilla and clogged waterways in Florida in my class when I talk about population range and invasive species.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
1 Aug 21
Animals and wildlife often make for the most interesting pictures, but you are right that it is very difficult to actually capture those great shots.
1 person likes this
@m_audrey6788 (58482)
• Germany
31 Jul 21
Never had the chance but glad you did and shared it here. 
Nice shot
Nice shot 2 people like this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
31 Jul 21
Thanks. I got lucky and got the perfect shot at the perfect time!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
1 Aug 21
I was probably less than 5 feet away. I would have tried to get closer to it, but the bank was all muddy and slippery and I didn't want to take any chances of falling.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (460461)
• Switzerland
2 Aug 21
@moffittjc Often my phone is in my purse, the time to get it out and the photo is missed.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
1 Aug 21
I know there has been plenty of missed photo opportunities for me in the past because I did not have my camera ready, or my phone was in my back pocket, or I wasn't thinking about taking photos at the time. Even recently, my son and I walked up on a herd of deer that were so close to us we probably could have reached out and touched them. We both froze looking at the deer and hoping they wouldn't be scared away, and that whole time I never thought about grabbing my phone out of my pocket and taking a picture.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Aug 21
@LadyDuck I often keep my phone in my back pocket, or if I'm wearing cargo shorts, in one of the side pockets on the shorts. Just like you said, in the amount of time it takes to reach for your phone, that "perfect" shot is gone.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Aug 21
Photos of deer are something that I've never gotten lucky enough to catch!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Aug 21
@just4him Nice. I see deer like that all the time, I just never have my camera ready!
1 person likes this
@just4him (308692)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
14 Aug 21
@moffittjc Here's one. This one is on the trail.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (158688)
• United States
1 Aug 21
That is a great picture! Yes, I caught a Key deer buck on a trail on Big Pine Key. He froze when he saw us; and I snapped the picture. Then he vanished.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
1 Aug 21
Last time I was in the Keys, I was driving through Big Pine Key and had to wait for what seemed like an hour at a traffic light there, as a herd of Key deer decided they wanted to stand around right in the middle of the intersection. Nobody seemed to mind or be in a hurry to shoo them away, including me. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of them.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Aug 21
@LindaOHio They are so tiny! You can't help but want to sit there and watch them.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (158688)
• United States
2 Aug 21
@moffittjc You see them all the time on the road. People are very careful around them.
1 person likes this
@DocAndersen (54407)
• United States
7 Aug 21
epic shot, sometimes it is better to be there at the right time! plus you were ready with your camera! i am sometimes in the right place, but always forget to be camera ready!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Aug 21
I'm famously known for never having my camera ready when opportunity presents itself.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Aug 21
@DocAndersen Yep, that's me, in the flesh!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
1 Aug 21
Thank you. I got lucky to be in the right place at the right time, with my camera out and ready.
@Juliaacv (48649)
• Canada
1 Aug 21
That must have added some real excitement to your hike.
You really were in the right place at the right time to get this picture.
Those Asian carps are huge aren't they?
Of course what else would a huge animal such as an alligator find to fill his appetite?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
1 Aug 21
Alligators will try to eat anything they can sink their teeth into!. We have a huge wetland prairie to the immediate southeast of our city, and wild horses roam there, as well as bison. I saw a video one time on Facebook of a gator trying to attack a full grown horse to make a meal of it. Of course the horse had something to say about that and kicked the living crap out of the gator.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (207512)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 Aug 21
Well, my best sunset photo occurred when I just happened to be on the Inspiration Trail when the sun set right over the Golden Gate Bridge. That alligator looks quite happy with himself. You're sure that's not one of your children, right?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118820)
• Gainesville, Florida
1 Aug 21
Sadly, too many children have been attacked by alligators here in Florida.
