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Baby Gators New Draw for SPI Birding & Nature Center

  • Updated: December 18, 2015

by Special to Los Fresnos News/Ron Whitlock

Children, shepherded by their moms & dads, with binoculars and cameras secured around their necks, are heading to South Padre Island, Texas, in droves, in search of baby alligators!

Yes, you read that right – baby alligators!

South Padre Island’s newest “Must See Ticket” are the baby alligators, who, as shown in the photo to the left provided by Beverly Welch, like to hitch rides on their momma’s back.

Children, shepherded by their moms & dads, with binoculars and cameras secured around their necks, are heading to South Padre Island, Texas, in droves, in search of baby alligators! Yes, you read that right – baby alligators! South Padre Island’s newest “Must See Ticket” are the baby alligators, who, as shown in the photo to the left provided by Beverly Welch, like to hitch rides on their momma’s back. Visitors in search of such sightings still visit the legendary Sea Turtle, Inc “Sea Turtle Rescue” Center right next door to marvel at the most famous turtle in the world, but now they also drop by the Birding & Nature Center too! The juvenile “Gators” were hatched from 14 eggs at the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, and have suddenly become its major attraction, rather than the birds and fauna that the center is known and renowned for around the world! They have been seen, primarily, around the Alligator Alley pavilion, located on the SPI Birding & Nature Centers’ Boardwalk which serpentines between the center, located at 6801 Padre Boulevard, South Padre Island, Texas and the Laguna Madre Bay, which separates the barrier island from its mainland neighbor, Port Isabel, Texas!

Hitchin’ a ride – Baby alligators bringing new visitors SPI’s Birding & Nature Center. Photo: Beverly Welch

Visitors in search of such sightings still visit the legendary Sea Turtle, Inc “Sea Turtle Rescue” Center right next door to marvel at the most famous turtle in the world, but now they also drop by the Birding & Nature Center too!

The juvenile “Gators” were hatched from 14 eggs at the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, and have suddenly become its major attraction, rather than the birds and fauna that the center is known and renowned for around the world!

They have been seen, primarily, around the Alligator Alley pavilion, located on the SPI Birding & Nature Centers’ Boardwalk which serpentines between the center, located at 6801 Padre Boulevard, South Padre Island, Texas and the Laguna Madre Bay, which separates the barrier island from its mainland neighbor, Port Isabel, Texas!