Gator Hunting

At 9 p.m. off exit 192 on I-10, Samuel and Doug met Phillip and and his son, Chad, to go Gator Hunting on Lake Talquin. Although Phillip is a medical doctor who teaches other doctors about pharmacology (drugs), he goes on Friday nights gator hunting as a licensed trapper. At the house of the head trapper he works under, they have huge walk in coolers were we saw and smelled an assortment of gator heads, skin and meat along with an equally weird assortment of deer heads. One of the large gator heads belonged to the 10' 6" foot gator he had caught the week before. The largest he has caught was 13' 8"!



We used a flat bottom boat outfitted for gator hunting with a deck and brace for the person with the harpoon to stand on in the bow. The harpoon was a long metal pole with a dart stuck on the end. The object of the hunt was to get close enough to the gator to jab the in the dart which was attached to a cable and rope. We moved about mainly with a trolling motor but also used a "Go Devil" (weird contraption that is good for shallow water).



We saw a lot of gators. Most of them two small to catch. The big beautiful moon was at first red and then orange before rising and becoming white. It and the choppy lake water made the gator hunting more difficult because we couldn't sneak up on them. Although we saw an 8' gator, we never could get close enough. We ended up catching a 6' and an almost 5'. The smaller one, Phillip harpooned "on the run" as we chased it down with the "Go Devil" at full throttle. Phillip also harpooned about a 3' Gar which turned out to only to be a handful but also very stinky!

We got home about 4 a.m. Saturday morning, but it was a lot of fun and maybe next time we will get the "big" one.

Joe Budd Fish Fry

Jana, Samuel & Lindsey were able to go with Colene, one of our administrative assistants, and her two sons, DJ & Chandler, to a fish fry at the "Joe Budd Aquatic Educational Center." DJ has been attending day camp on advanced fishing. On Friday they cleaned and cooked the fish they had caught during the week for family and friends. In this picture DJ is about to take Samuel on a tour of the lake.

Nature Museum

On Tuesday June 16, we went with friends to a Nature Museum. And it was fascinating, with all the animals and fun stuff. There were Eagles, Owls, Panthers, Turkeys and lots more. Its almost like a zoo, but there is a lot of history, and it was very fun to learn and see how people lived back then.

Father's Day Car Show

After church on June 15, we had 94 cars displayed under the shade of the old oak trees on the church property for over 700 people to enjoy.

We went out to Macaroni Grill for a great Father's Day meal. My two children were stellar examples of decorum and dignity!?

A Roasted Pig and a Good Pounding

Wednesday, June 11, everybody had a great time, except for the pig - though he came out with a smile.

Life in Tally

We got here at 8:00 am on Saturday the 25 of May to our new home in Killearn Commons, a part of Killearn Lakes. We love our new house and the neighborhood. The downside is the small backyard (Ginger and Kitty have learned to adapt) and that we will probably be here until we sell our house in Mississippi. Samuel has two lakes a couple of blocks east of us and Lindsey has a neighborhood swimming pool just a couple of blocks north of us. And Jana has within two miles a Publix, Target, Goodwill Store, Post Office, Super Walmart, lots of restuarants and a whole lot more.