Of Da Gators Eggs... First pic was taken by drone, can you see momma watching the nest....Imagine when your done mowing your yard and there is this wad of grass clumped up that falls out from under the mower deck, that's what 99% of the nest look like... After the quality check this is where they go, they are checked to see if they have been fertilized or not, if not they are "light bulbs" as we call them, just clear liquid with no embryo...About 10-15% of every nest is a lightbulb, sometimes the whole nest is... Cull box And if anyone is wondering this operation is in conjunction with Florida Wildlife Conservation officials and is permitted... PS I looked for Dave as I was collecting gators but I didn't have any left leaning nest on the property...
OK so why are you doing this project? I'm sure there are plenty of Gators in Fla and they don't need to be coddled like turtles do they? BTW How does mom react when you approach her nest?
LOL, I'm sorry Kes, it occurred to my one feeble brain cell that this may hinder a visit after I posted it...My Bad!! Please tell her that I've been here 24 years and the worst bite ever received has been from mosquitos, I'm not planning on walking anyone thru the swamps I promise...Besides you will be in a vehicle safe and sound...Except for Terry.
Terry it's my attempt at farming the land to its fullest to be honest. The "true" gator farms have found out that they cannot successfuly hatch out young gators in captivity, for some reason it just never works out. So in conjunction with the Florida Wildlife Commission (Game wardens, biologist etc) private land owners can capture a percentage of their wild eggs and sell them to the gator farms. This is very regulated and audited where each nesting site has been marked by GPS, inspected by the state and we are told how many we are allowed to pickup according to the number of nesting sites on the property. The mom is very dangerous during this period, think momma bear and cubs. So it is a bit adventurous to say the least when picking them up, we always have two people working together, one picking up and one defending the guy picking up the eggs. The adrenalin is pumping for sure and to top it off there are always bad eggs so the fire ants infest the nest and are eating you up while you "rob" the nest... The rash of gator attacks in Florida the past few weeks are because of nesting sites near the location of the attack, nobody ever mentions this...Once nesting season is over by late July the gators become very timid and avoid humans.. The market per egg is currently $55...We average 30-50 eggs per nest so the money is a worthy risk... It's so good that poachers hit us last weekend thinking nobody would be on the property thru the July 4th weekend and robbed six nest before we caught up with them. Unfortunately they did get away from us...
That's only when it comes to you, Scott. (Screenshot sent to wife to ensure it stays that way.) :twisted: