Dear Jungle Pete....

The following are drawings from the gifted students at Cafferatta & Diplomat Elementary School in Cape Coral following my alligator presentation last week. Thanks to Mrs. Taylor and the other teachers for teaching such thoughtful kids. Great art and fantastic comments  - not to mention they have better handwriting, spelling and grammar than I do!

To start us off - Here's a "beauty" of a letter from Tatiana with a nod to the late Steve Irwin.













A few excerpts from the awesome letters the kids wrote - 

"Thank you for teaching us about the temperature alligators need to be boys and girls." - Reinier

"I loved when you pushed his eye in, that was gross looking but cool" - Julia

"That alligator bark was really good to know about. That way if any alligators call I know to get out of there." - Heather

"The favorite thing about the alligator was their bark." - Sean

"I can't believe it had 80 teeth! That was really amusing." - Victoria

"The alligator had the most interesting snout." - Dylan

"It was very weird how animals with such a small brain know how to make a hole of water." - Franklin

"I loved the little alligator Chomp-Chomp" - Julia

"I learned so many things I did not know like they have extra eyelids!" - Jacob

"I also liked how you told us how many eggs will survive and how many they lay." - Jayden

"It was very fun learning all those facts about alligators and crocodiles." - Camilo

"The stuff you do is amazing! I was telling everyone that what you do is awesome!" - Tyler

"There was a lot of interesting facts that you told, like the largest alligator." - Jessebell

"When you took out Chomp-Chomp I dropped my mouth!" - Frankie

"The alligator you brought was really scary and awesome" - Jan Carlo

"I really liked the alligator Chomp-Chomp but  I think his name should be Chompy." - Michael

"We also appreciate the game you taught us. My egg survived and now I am a hatchling." - Brandon

"Also, I thank you for playing the alligator nest game with us." - David

"My favorite part was when you made the alligator bark." - Logan

Thanks kids! 

Sincerely, Jungle Pete

Chomp-Chomp goes to School

I've been away from the classroom for too long and when I was invited to talk about Alligators for kids from Cafferata and Diplomat Elementary Schools in Cape Coral I was more than happy to do so. The gifted students were a great audience with excellent questions including a few favorites:

• How can you tell a male from a female alligator? (if there are babies and the adult is not eating them - female - otherwise it gets complicated)
• How fast can an alligator run? (up to 10 mph for a very short distance)
• Where did you get that awesome hat? (it was handmade in Cape Coral)
• How can you tell if an alligator has been fed? (illegally fed, wild alligators lose their fear of humans and will not flee in their presence)
• What are the beads of your bracelet from? (I don't know but it was a gift from a Buddhist monk)
• What eats alligators? (Everything eats baby alligators from Large-mouth Bass, Raccoons, Wood Stork and even other Alligators)

Here I'm pointing out the northern extent of the Alligator's historic range in Virginia. 

It looks like the magic trick has gone terribly wrong! Actually I was asked by a student to reveal what was in the aquarium slowly to "build the suspense". 

Of course it was a baby American Alligator and everyone was wildly excited. Chomp-Chomp was spending his/her first day at school showing off with a ferocious bark - ok not so ferocious but if you heard that noise in the wild - look out for mama. 

Chomp-Chomp is not a pet but works for the Everglades Day Safari like me. We enjoyed getting away from the swamp for a day. Thanks to Mrs. Taylor (for the invitation and photos) and the kids from Cafferata and Diplomat Elementary. I hope they had as much fun as I did.