Deinosuchus and Archelon

For those of you who don’t know, those are prehistoric animals that lived in the late Cretaceous period. About seventy-five million years ago, give or take a few millennia. The Deinosuchus is a prehistoric crocodile, but it’s actually related to the North American Alligators. The Archelon was a prehistoric turtle. Both of these animals where ginormous compared to their living relatives. I mean the deinosuchus could grow to thirty five feet and the archelon could grow to to two tons… the weight of an elephant! 

I’m assuming most of you know that my kid is obsessed with dinosaurs. I didn’t look this stuff up, I just asked her. So if there’s something wrong, blame the three year old researcher. Or, the almost forty year old blogger who has a three year old as a researcher. Your call. 

We live close enough to the Everglades that we go on a regular basis to check out what those guys are up to. More specifically, we go to the Sawgrass Recreational Park. It’s family owned and they give great airboat tours. Also, they have a little animal sanctuary with rescued animals from other (now closed down) facilities. If you’re a resident of Florida, you pay once and you get to go for free for a year. It’s a great deal, and I try to take the kid once a month. We look over all the animals, we have a little picnic and we do the boat ride. Which is my favorite part, cause it’s loud enough that I don’t have to talk, the kid sits back and watches the scenery, and I’ve been enough times that I don’t have to pay attention to the “tour” part of it. I find it very relaxing. 

Today we went back. We hadn’t gone since July and I needed the little drive. When we got to the alligators’ habitat, we found out that the eggs that had been nested before we left, were no longer viable. All of them had to be disposed of. That made me sad… And then, I found out that my favorite bird, had “flown away” from old age! Geez! What else? I’m waiting for my neighbor to text me that her “rescued squirrels” escaped! 

Disclaimer: Rescuing squirrels its actually a thing. My neighbor gets them from some rescue, rehabilitates them and then releases them back to the wild. She LOVES her babies. I know that my neighbor sounds “nutty” (I crack myself up!). She is!

I always sit in the middle of the boat. I’m not trying to be lunch.