Ancient suburban swamps harbor an incredibly tough collection of critters as we say here in the South. Here at the southernmost tip of Texas the ancient swamps greatest battleship is the prehistoric relic of DNA, the infamous and mysterious Alligator Gar. iNaturalist listing
These two words separated conjure vicious attack speed rapacious appetite and deadly accuracy but combined we need to add the superlatives of gargantuan overkill and armor to match. To call an Alligator Gar a fish is to thoroughly miss the point that somehow a conscious organism with this tool set is actively prowling the rivers and shallow waterways we often overlook with labels such as ditch or drainage. Far from that these areas are active pools of superfast adaptive evolution where new ideas are often chastised with early death and old ideas like Gars still somehow persist. They have gills but breathe air like a frog releasing gulps of gas in exchange for a fresh gulp from the surface.
The Alligator Gar is an undisputed freshwater goliath that grows to massive proportions by fulfilling an instinctive skill of prowling on all types of water, land and air dwelling organisms easily up to the size of the large healthy catfish seen as prey in these rare photographs of an Alligator Gar in action during the early morning hours.
It is the hope of this author that sharing these rare experiences here can motivate us to come together in a common bond of awe and respect for these miraculous beasts that inhabit the world with us and we continue to protect them.
See Alligator Gar: Predator or Prey?
Coming up for air
Nature is abundant with magical creatures of legend and lore easily up to par and beyond the grasp of the words we use to describe them. However in reality these pictures do not do this phenom of a being any justice compared to the price of its existence for millennia in suburban swamps way down south by Mexico way.
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Alligator gar attacking catfish 
Alligator gar attacking catfish 
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Alligator Gar, Resaca Rancho Viejo, Texas Alligator Gar feeding on catfish, Resaca Rancho Viejo, Texas 
Alligator Gar feeding on catfish, Resaca Rancho Viejo, Texas
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Dallas, Texas, the largest city in the United States without a navigable waterway to the ocean has a strong connection to Costa Rica Nature Conservatory. Costa Rica has long been attached to the developers and entrepreneurs of Texas. The Ticos as they are called by their own selves in Costa Rica owe their banks, railroads, plantations of all types and an ever growing population of gringo property owners from Texas to the Lone Star state that quietly remains friendly to them in spite of their often tragic way of treating us.
