The American Alligator Lurks in My Collage for LMAC #160

in #hive-1746952 years ago

160 lunapic2.png

Every week when @shaka offers the Hive community a photo to interpret for the LMAC collage contest, he is presenting a sort of Rorschach test. This week's photo is a perfect example. In looking at the different collages that were evoked by the image, we are given a glimpse of the artists' minds. Or at least moods at the moment they created the collages.

Some collagists went dark. Some went magical. When I saw the picture, I thought of profoundly moving experiences in my own life and I also thought about recent events. Here's @shaka's photo. Where does it take you?
ViizxsF - Imgur.jpg

The Collage is First of All, Personal

As I have written before on Hive, I spent most of my childhood in a rural environment. Often I walked with my siblings along a stream, through the forest and across swampy terrain. @shaka's picture could have been taken on any one of those expeditions.

My adventures brought great beauty, danger and sorrow. The beauty is the most compelling of my impressions, but I was also afraid many times. The sorrow I will not address here, but it was deep and remained with me through the years.

accent  black and red tiny.pngaccent  black and red tiny.png

The American Alligator

Alligator_mississippiensis TimVickers public.jpg
Credit: Tim Vickers. Public domain

My daughter recently went to Cocoa Beach, Florida and all around she saw signs warning of alligators.

Alligator and Snake Sign My Daughter Saw at Cocoa Beach
alligators and snakes sign2.png
Credit: LMAC Image Gallery,LIL

At least one estimate puts the number of alligators in Florida at 1.3 million. That's a lot of hungry apex predators. In Florida, alligators are hunters, on top of the food chain...except for two species: humans and pythons.

At one point in time, the American alligator's survival was threatened. However in 1967 the animal was placed on the Endangered Species List, and since then this species has rebounded to such an extent that the state has an official Nuisance Alligator Program. According to the website Wildlife Whisper, alligators that are under 4' in length are rarely considered dangerous. However, if an alligator is a menace to people, it is removed by a licensed professional and killed (I never use the word 'euthanized'. That's a euphemism. While killing may be warranted, it is still killing.)

There is an alligator hunting season in Florida, which begins on August 15 and ends on November 1. The act of hunting and killing an alligator under this program is called 'harvesting' (another euphemism for killing). There are specific regulations for how one may hunt an alligator. Apparently, sport is part of the hunt, as crossbows and harpoons are among the permitted weapons.

Gator Hunting in Louisiana
Gator_Hunting_2011_in_Louisiana_04 Mark Gstohl 2.0.jpg
Credit: Mark Gstohl. Used under CC 2.0 Attribution license

Habitat:
The American alligator, however is thriving. These animals are found only in the United States. It is in the order crocodilian, one of the two crocodilians in the U. S. The other is the American crocodile, which is quite rare in the U. S. and is listed as Threatened.

Distribution Map of American Crocodile
American crocodile distribution.png
Credit: Marcos Rodríguez Bobadilla. Used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

The American alligator may reach a length of 12 feet and weigh as much as 1,000 pounds. Males are generally larger than females. The alligator may be found as far north as North Carolina and may also be found in (besides Florida) states as far west as Texas.

The alligator is a fresh water animal. If you visit Florida and go anywhere near water, watch out!!! Recent headlines reported an 85-year-old woman who was dragged underwater by an alligator (she was defending her small pooch. The pooch lived but the woman did not).

Crocodiles (and Alligators) Climb Trees!!
Here is a video that shows tree-climbing crocodiles (video by the Red Phoenix).


American alligators are not obligate carnivores. It seems they like fruit, and may play a role in seed dispersal. The alligator is a keystone species. It is an essential part of the food chain. When alligator numbers were greatly reduced years ago, fish disappeared from Florida waters. It seems the gators hunted gar, which are ravenous consumers of fish. When the gar population exploded, they ate all the fish. With the return of the gator, the gar population was reduced and the fish returned.

Gators also help the environment with their lifestyle. They are considered 'habitat enhancers'. They dig burrows in order to cool off and in order to raise their young. The burrows retain water in dry spells and allow other creatures to survive.

Alligator Nest
Alligator_nest_Picture_199 NancyHeise public.jpg
NancyHeise. Public domain

American alligators may live up to 50 years. They lay anywhere from 35 to 90 eggs. They are protective parents. It is estimated that only 10 of the eggs will reach one year of age.

My Collage

This was so enjoyable to make. I was like a child with a crayon box and no instructions, except to have fun (Please note: I do not compete in the contest. I participate because I enjoy the activity.)

The elements (starting of course with @shaka's template):
I borrowed richly from LIL this week. There are so many wonderful, suggestive images there. Here are the LIL contributors to whom I am in debt for this collage:

@hernleon74
cascade
hernleon waterfall2.png

@anibal-aa
sky
anibal-aa sky2.png

@muelli
palm tree
muelli palm tree2.png

@muelli
whimsical plant
muelli whimsical plant2.png

@yaziris
garden flowers
yaziris flower garden2.png

@redheadpei
cat
redheadpei cat2.png

I also borrowed from Pixabay. Thank you, to those photographers!

mylene2401
child
child-g94d0a87ba_1280 2.jpg

blickpixel
alligator
crocodile-g00bb3c49a_1280 2.jpg

The Process:
There was really no process, no plan except I knew where I was going. I wanted a rich, wild place, full of color, beauty, innocence and menace. I'll show a few of the different steps I went through to get to my final result.
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Many of the plants I created by putting two or more together. For example:
flower muelli plant.png

The colored tree in the background I painted in. The green trees topping the forest I added by copying from trees in the foreground. I wanted the alligator to be camouflaged, but it literally disappeared into the creek, so I added green eyes, touched up the teeth and colored in green scales. Same with the pom pom on the child's hat. It took a while to settle on the sky color, but this one suits the picture, I think.

(By the way: the alligator in my collage may be a crocodile, not an alligator. It seems a crocodile has more teeth showing than an alligator when the mouth is closed. All alligators are crocodiles but not all crocodiles are alligators.)

My final step was to go over to Lunapic and add a Cezanne filter. I thought Cezanne was appropriate to enhance my theme.
Here's a before (Cezanne filter) and after comparison
lmac 160 before and after lunapic.png

A Little Bit of Animation for Fun: No Child or Cat was Injured in the Contemplation of This Collage:)

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LMAC and LIL

Making collages is fun, a creative exercise and a learning experience. This week I learned a little bit more about alligators. Every week is another adventure.

Please check out this week's winning collages at the LMAC community site. Tomorrow we begin another round (#160). Come back then, discover the new template, and try your hand at making something unique.

You can see that LIL, the LMAC Image Library, is an important part of my collage creating process. Everyone on Hive can contribute to the library and borrow from the library. Learn about the procedure here.

I wish all my readers peace and health.

Thank you for reading my blog

Hive on

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The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the people( @agmoore ) sharing the post on Twitter as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.

I think it is very good entry for contest.

Thank you.

Perhaps you would like to join us one week. We are a welcoming community :)

Amazing collage, very original! Very informative blog - especially loved the information on the American alligator.

Thank you very much for that lovely comment. It is very encouraging.

Climbing trees? oh, oh that's not good.

That isn't good, is it? And they are pretty fast creatures. Can run at about 35 miles an hour. Scary😀

Thanks very much for stopping by and commenting, @victor8

I’m missing u and this is so beautifully made 🤗❤️🤗❤️💕

♥️♥️🌷

Thank you my friend, @itsostylish

I am so happy I get to visit the community and comment, but now there is much less pressure. Fatigue is a part of life as we get older and we have to ration resources 🌈

I am still a part of Inkwell, just not officially. I see new writers, great prompts. It's wonderful.

Thank you for visiting. I hope your life is peaceful and rewarding.

Say what you will about Canada, but at least we don't have alligators or crocodiles. :) Those creatures are terrifying when they grab you and twist. I didn't know about the twist thing until recently, and when I found out, I liked crocs even less. Of course, I understand all creatures have a right to exist, but why do they have to be so bitey? 😆 🐊

Say what you will about Canada

I love Canada 🌈 Ottawa (years ago) was like a small town in a big city when I visited. The people were wonderful. I wandered around by myself while my husband competed in a pool tournament. The people were friendly, the streets attractive and I felt completely safe.

So, I have that to say about Canada 😁

As for the alligators: entirely too bitey, but apparently very necessary. That I understand especially after writing this blog.

Thanks for the visit, @litguru

Wonderful collage A.G. @agmoore. Love the animations. Great info too.

I heard about the woman being killed by the croc or gater trying to,save her pooch. So sad this happened and that these creatures are wandering freely around parks and resorts.

I appreciate you used my lil image of Red. Perfectly placed in your creation with the cute youngster. He is the only cat I have left now and getting up there in age. 🐱

Have a great Friday! 🌞

Hello my friend, @redheadpei. I love your cat. Not only a beautiful cat, but full of personality 🐈

I'm sorry your other cats are gone. We have them, love them and take care of them. That has to be enough, but it hurts.

Here the weather has been unnaturally kind. 54 degrees this afternoon!! One modest snowfall for the season (the other night). Spring is just three weeks away....

Please do have a wonderful weekend. Give Red a pet for me :)

Your collage is very nice, great reporting of the American alligator. They climb trees, how curious.

Thank you @innfauno12. I appreciate your visit and your comment. I like writing about different subjects. It's fun.

Take care

That crocodile doesn't look friendly, but I'm glad he didn't even notice the boy with the cat.

Very original, I like the creativity you had in joining so many images into one.

I'm glad he didn't even notice the boy with the cat.

😇

I added the animation so the 'story' would have a happy ending. Otherwise, we would worry wouldn't we? :)

Thanks very much for your kind comment, @morenow

A metaphor for life methinks. Even as you blithely pick daisies, there's a monster lurking in the undergrowth. But wait, sometimes, just sometimes, that beast just passes you right by.
Love the collage and indeed the gator info. I'm certain that it's going to come in mighty handy one of these days:)

But wait, sometimes, just sometimes, that beast just passes you right by

It has to!! Life is so hard, so cruel that in my little imagined universe, kindness must prevail :)

I'm certain that it's going to come in mighty handy one of these days

😁
When my daughter was in Florida she kept looking for alligators. When she learned they climbed fences and trees (I told her), she started looking up. We are a paranoid lot 😅

Thanks for the visit and I'm really glad you liked my collage. Great, childish fun for me. I seem to be regressing to childhood :)