Swamp Boats, Just Prior to Alligator Incident

I pulled off to the side of the road to get some better photos of the swamps and swamp boats. I was at the edge of the swap, looking far into the horizon attempting to get a shot of the swamp boats and to capture the feeling of the ruggeds swamps in the distance. Just after I took this photo, I started walking while looking down at my digital camera to review the photos. As I walked something in the grass right in front of me jumped suddenly causing me to leap back, loose fitting on the mud and fall to the ground. It was an alligator! I was about two feet from walking directly over it. It jerked around quickly and jumped into the water, half-submerged staring at me.