All Babies are Cute

I’m a sucker for babies as much as the next girl. Therefore, it is not surprising that the E*Trade baby prompts me to reinvest in a foundering stock market or animated characters have round faces and large, liquid eyes by calculated design. In Shrek 2 when Puss in Boots makes his appearance, it isn’t Antonio Banderas’s voice that gets me, it’s the Puss’s pleading pool-sized brown eyes. I would do anything for Puss in Boots. (Just don’t tell him that.)

So, it puzzles me why I would love alligators. Their eyes are tiny, beady even, in relation to their long tooth-filled snouts. And yet, baby alligators are cute. They really are.

Here in Florida, it is hard to avoid ‘gators. They’re on signs, on shirts, in the lakes, the swamps, front lawns and in swimming pools (on occasion). They’re also on menus. The best way to eat ‘gator tail is to fry it (or so I was told by someone in the know). In a pinch you could barbecue it or smoke it. It is extremely important to avoid eating the alligator fat, which apparently is the most foul tasting fat in the world. “Once you taste ‘gator fat, you never go back to eating ‘gator again,” I was informed by a connoisseur. It was at that point that I decided to not risk it . . . ever.

This informative connoisseur is actually a ‘gator lover and an airboat guide. During the course of an hour, he shared lore and well worn jokes as he deftly guided the boat through shallow waters and glided to a stop near one full grown ‘gator after another (one 6’, one 8’ one 9’). Did you know that you can estimate the length of a ‘gator by adding a foot for every inch from its eyes to the end of its snout? Did you know that alligators keep growing their entire lives? Did you know that although they lose their teeth, the teeth grow back bigger and badder every time? Did you know that their babies are cute? Oh yes, they are absolutely adorable.

Floating quietly near a gator submerged, it didn’t take long to notice the little ones scampering about. They are awkward little things as they wobble along on their toddler’s little legs. Mama ‘gator provides nothing other than protection and even that isn’t sufficient when you’ve got 36 little ‘gators running off in all directions.

As babies, they eat minnows and bugs and are eaten in turn by birds and bass. Only 2-3 babies per clutch live long enough to turn the tables again on the very birds and fish that ate their siblings. As little ones, though, they are cute, and vulnerable, just like other babies we know. They seem oblivious to life’s dangers and they explore without limits. They are fearless. I think that’s why I love them . . . despite their non-Puss in Boots eyes.