Louis

Dear very good teacher, themes in nature?   A true story Last week I was visiting my 94 year old mother in law for her birthday in Orlando Florida. I went for a walk on a Sunday (9 AM, bright cool day, recent cold front, blue sky, T 60 or so) morning in the wetlands, drainage area, canal system which reflects close to what would have been in Florida prior to development. Walking slowly I noticed something swimming in the water. Initially I thought it was a muskrat. It eventually came out of the water and I could see it had a small fish in its mouth. It ate that one and caught another, about 12 inches long. This attracted a great blue heron who immediately came over and followed the otter around, from one pond to the next, fishing in the shallow waters of the pond-culvert system. I could see the Heron catch some small fish as they swam into the shallow water to escape the swimming otter in the deeper water. It even caught a baby alligator and carried it around for a while. As the otter would move, so would the otter. When the otter brought a fairly large fish (24 or 30 "long) to the bank to eat, the heron came out and stood watching about 5 feet way. The otter showed no interest in the otter and the heron appeared relaxed but always watching the heron. I have more to tell, but long enough.  All of this took place a few hundred yards from a 5 thousand home development.  People walking in this area are common. The otter and heron both saw me, in fact the otter came over to visit me, snarled, showed his teeth and kept swimming. Several people walked by me, took no noticed, even if I pointed. I noticed if I had a low profile, I was ignored by the birds, otter, even by the people. This wet land is connected to several thousand acres of connecting waterways intertwined between suburban developments.  I invite the reader to  address the themes.  Enjoying the course, Lou  PS, I have seen several otters in the past in Maine, all for a split second,never observed one for 45 minutes or more.