20

A Gator Family Housewarming

A New York man's pet alligator was seized after 30 years. Now, he wants  Albert back | WUSF

Uncle Stu and Amanda had been married almost a year when they decided to have a party. It was part anniversary party, part housewarming. They were going to live in Amanda’s house in South Carolina so she could be near her grand-gators. Vinny, Stu’s only son, was still single. However, when Vinny and Stu moved all of his things up there was no way it was all going to fit comfortably. So he put it in storage, and they went house-hunting. Now they were having family and friends over to celebrate.

Alligator comes knocking at Florida home

Vinny: I have to admit, you found a good place, Dad. How did you end up here?

Stu: We had to be careful where we bought. There are a lot of nice neighborhoods that are full of humans. Humans are not all nice.

Amanda: You know Stu. He thinks the best of everyone.

Stu: A man asks me if I wanted lunch. Of course, I did. Who doesn’t want lunch? He and his buddy were talking about what a nice shade of green I am.

Justine: That’s weird. Why would they say that? You’re basic alligator green.

Stu: The waiter took me aside and said I needed to leave.

Alligator seen outside Port St. Lucie home causes stir

Justine: What a weird place.

Stu: They were going to make shoes out of me. Remember to always be nice to waiters and other workers. Amanda came and picked me up.

Adele: You have the most interesting adventures, Uncle Stu.

Amanda: Needless to say, we did not end up in that neighborhood.

Close-up of an american alligator hiding in grass and sunning with eyes  open, florida, united states | Premium Photo

Stu: It was a lot harder to find a place than I thought it would be. I thought that a place with a nice yard for sunning would be easy to find. But it gets cold up here. Miami is warm all the time. Charleston, not so much.

Amanda: A friend told me about this place.

Adele: it is beautiful.

Amanda: And look at the sun porch. Plenty of room for a whole congregation of us to relax. (Ed. Note: Yes, that’s what a group of alligators is called.)

Granny: Stu, sometimes I worry about you being so far from home. Vinny won’t be around to get you out of scrapes.

Amanda: Stan and Adele are only a few blocks away. We’re hoping that we can keep him from getting into too many scrapes.

Stu: You all talk like I’m incapable of taking care of myself.

Amanda: You’re way too trusting, Stu. Remember how you almost bought a lifetime supply of olive oil because that sales clerk said it would make your skin soft?

Justine: Was that another try at making him into a snack?

Amanda: Thankfully, no. But alligators don’t need soft skin.

Stu: Sometimes it works out. I got a great deal on a hot tub. And what alligator doesn’t love a warm bath.

Amanda: That is true. Especially in the cooler weather.

Vinny: I saw where you guys got snow a while back.

Stu: It wasn’t a problem. It came and went.

Have you ever seen an alligator in the snow? 🐊 đŸ“·: Hend Noman

Amanda: He wanted to make a snow gator, but it didn’t last.

Stan: Didn’t learn anything from the frostbite on your trip to Canada?

Stu: Truthfully, I had forgotten about that. Almost lost my tail.

Toucan Fact Sheet | Blog | Nature | PBS

There’s a knock at the door. Amanda leaves to answer it.

Stu: I hope that’s the toucans that I invited.

Vinny: Where did you meet toucans, Dad?

Stu: I was talking to someone at the bus stop and mentioned that we were having a housewarming. She seemed very nice. Big flamingo. I told her to stop by if she’d like.She asked if she could bring a few friends. Some exotic friends. I figured if they were more exotic than a flamingo, they must be toucans.

Alligator appears on doorstep of Florida woman, who then takes photos

Amanda: Stu, why are there half-naked human women at our door?

Stu: I have no idea.

Amanda: You need to handle this.

Vinny: I work at a club in Miami. Let me handle it.

Amanda: Thank you.

Vinny goes out to talk to the humans. He returns a few minutes later, laughing.

Flamingo Fact Sheet | Blog | Nature | PBS

Vinny: Dad, that “flamingo” was a lady dressed up like a bird. She asked you if you wanted exotic dancers at your party.

Suzy: What’s an exotic dancer?

Vinny: They are human dancers who work wearing very little clothing.

Suzy: Why would they think an alligator would want to see almost naked humans?

Justine: Eww.

First an alligator came crashing through her window. Now what?

Stu: She seemed like such a nice flamingo. I thought her friends would be nice too. Were they angry when you told them there had been a misunderstanding?

Vinny: Not at all. They thought there might have been a mistake when an alligator opened the door.

Granny: It looks like you haven’t solved the issues of keeping Stu out of trouble yet.

Floridians Can Party With Alligators Now | TIME.com

Pictures courtesy of Google Images.

9

Road Trip! The Gators’ Summer Vacation

Image result for alligators cuddling

It had been abnormally hot and steamy in the southern Florida swamp. While most of the gators loved it, Abigail had had enough. She was a Carolina gator who had met Al on a spring trip to Panama City. It was love at first sight, and they spent their time curled up in a hot tub some human had forgotten to drain.

When it was time to go home, Al invited Abby to come with him. She didn’t hesitate and had been living south of Miami ever since. It had been an adjustment. She thought it smelled weird, and all the gators did was lie around. She loved Al and she soon adapted. But this summer was too much.

Image result for alligators in a swamp

Abby: Al, the heat is starting to make me cranky.

Al: Sweetheart, you’re an alligator. Being cranky is part of our charm.

Abby: I want to go somewhere for vacation.

Al: OK, we can go to somewhere on the coast. You pick the spot.

Abby: I was thinking a little more north.

Al: Back to Panama City? That would be nice.

Abby: Um. A little further north.

Al: How much further north?

Image result for tennessee and georgia

Abby: Tennessee.

Al: Where is Tennessee? I’ve never heard of it.

Abby: It’s north of Georgia.

Al: That doesn’t sound very tropical. Exactly how far is it?

Abby (hesitating): Well, I couldn’t get the exact mileage, but it’s about 850 miles.

Al: 850 miles! Abby, we’re alligators. It would take us years. There’s no way we can take that kind of trip. Find someplace closer or we’re not going.

Image result for alligator in hot tub

Abby (starting to cry): Just look at the pictures. See, the humans are wearing shorts. That means it’s warm. And the place I found has a hot tub. It’ll be romantic, just like when we first met. We can leave the kids with your sister.

Al: What’s that big, furry thing standing in this picture?

Abby: It says it’s a bear. I’m not sure what that is, but I’m sure it’s well-mannered since it’s at a resort.

Al: I don’t see any alligators in these pictures. All the animals are furry.

Image result for tennessee black bear

Abby: I’m sure it’s just because of where they took the pictures.

Al realizes that Abby really has her heart set on going to this place.

Al: OK. How do we get there?

Abby: I thought that we could take an airplane, but we gators don’t have our own airline. Apparently, not enough of us fly. We used to be able to take All Animals, but they went out of business. The last one available is Creature Air Comfort, but they’ve banned gators.

Image result for animal airlines

Al: Isn’t that discriminatory?

Abby: Apparently not. In the past few years, there have been five instances of gators eating other passengers.

Al: Trust some hooligans to ruin it for everyone.

Abby: So the next fastest way to get there is by train. The only problem is that the trains from Miami charge gators double because of the eating other passengers thing. We’d need to go to Orlando to get a decent rate. Apparently there are lots of humans in the area who spoil the alligators, so they don’t bother the other animals.

Image result for steam train drawing

Al: Well, there’s one positive to the human invasion down here. So how do we get to Orlando?

Abby: Well your sister Jean told me about something the humans have, called ride-sharing. Some people do it because they’re friends, but other people do it for anyone to make money.

Al: Well, that’s great, but we don’t know any humans.

Abby: Jean does. Some guy who was out here taking pictures. He said that driving alligators to Orlando would make him “viral.” We don’t know what that means, but she made sure that he would deliver us to the train station alive and in good shape.

Al (defeated): So when does he pick us up?

Early Saturday morning, the driver arrives in an old pickup truck. He has filled the bed with water after laying down blankets for their comfort. He has a friend who is recording everything while talking the whole time. Abby and Al climb in, ready to start their adventure.

Image result for tennessee vacation

 

Next time: Tennessee is definitely not the tropics.

(Pictures courtesy of Google Images)