While Tabasco may be the big name draw to Avery (and we agree - it's a must-do), it was the Jungle Gardens that we enjoyed the most! Mr. Tabasco - whoops! I mean Mr. McIlhenny (actually, he was called Mr. Ned) created a 170 acre garden of sorts, with neat plants, an old Buddha, and a bunch of birds.
Other than the alligators (which is my numero uno favorite exotic sight of the south!!), the most dramatic southern spectacle has to be the giant, elegant moss-draped oaks. I never tire of seeing them (except maybe when they block our roof-mounted satellite dish...)
But here's my #1 fav...!
Am I really out there "sneaking up" on a gator? Hell yeah! For a photo? You bet! But no, I don't want to push his comfort zone! No, I don't think he'd come after me (because he wouldn't be cornered in this instance), but I do think he'd take off and disappear into the water! And besides, that's what long lenses are for!! Gators and snakes and...
This guy was SO good-looking! I'd say he was about 5 or 6 feet long maybe? Not a huge guy but quite respectable.
Now this little prehistoric-looking fellow was probably all of 3 feet or so.
Back on the other side of the pond. There's my six-footer, smiling for the camera!?
This tree is called the Cleveland Oak, after President Grover Cleveland, who visited the McIllhennys around 1891...!
Bill going to see the Buddha...
Little Buddha house in a beautiful setting!
This Buddha was created in China in the early 1100s!!!! It was stolen and ultimately wound up for sale in the US. Some of McIlhenny's pals bought it for him as a gift! Yeah, I know, not everyone has a President Cleveland Tree and an authentic 12th century Chinese Buddha in their yard... But this guy was pretty amazing so seems apropos somehow...
Gorgeous magnolias.
The azaleas are just starting to come out here...
I'm surrounded by cardinals and yet am still struggling to get a good shot of one of the colorful birds! They are too quick, like to hide behind things, be too far away, or be close up in dark areas...!! Here is a male I caught, but again, it was quite dark where he chose to bathe, so not the best shot!
More pretty azaleas.
And more pretty alligators! Again, these two are younger ones - just a few feet long.
These cars are providing good size comparison against the giant, overarching oaks.
Bill hikes up to the lookout platform to view "Bird City." A major feature of the Jungle Gardens, this consists of raised platforms in the water, covered with bamboo - these serve as nesting (and mating!) grounds for the snowy egret. Back in the 1800s, these poor birds were being decimated by hat feather hunters. The beautiful birds were killed for their snowy white plumes - must've really been in demand in the world of high fashion. Sad to nearly lose a species merely on account of peoples' fashion sense...
The Bird City swamp.
The raised platforms with bamboo floors.
What happens on the platforms stays on the platforms...(well, until it hatches and flies away...!!!)
Aren't they pretty birds?
Well I think this guy is pretty too, but I know I'm going to hear otherwise from the rest of you! A good-sized water snake (maybe a brown-banded?).
An egret in a tree (maybe a "swamp maple?" with pretty spring red colors - seed bunches, I think).
And my favorite color magnolias - in sunshine...
and in shade...
What a pretty tree, moss and all.
And what a beautiful place...
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