Did you know that alligators like marshmallows?

As many of you know we recently built a house in a nice master-planned community.  The community is really an awesome place (in the country) to come home to.  It has beautiful creeks and trails coupled with a very nature filled backdrop.  It is super serene and at night it sounds like a camp ground!  We even have a couple of peacocks that run around!

This is the view from one of our upstairs bedrooms.  It is simply beautiful.  Who would not want to have this in their life?  You can't see it, but I am raising my hand.  Please read on.

This is the same lake behind our house on a recent cloudy day.  Do you see anything out of place?  Look closer to see if you see Francis, our new alligator.  Yes I said new, meaning there have been more than one.

Luckily the Team Leader is safe from our latest inhabitant.

Why do we have an alligator in our lake you ask?  Well the lake is similar to the creek  where I walk the Team Leader every day.  One particular Saturday morning the three of us, the Nutrition Nazi, the Team Leader, and myself were out for our morning jog.  I usually let the Team leader stop and look over the edge to see the turtles that swim under the bridge, but this day we see an alligator swimming up.  CRAP!  Right about that time a father and his young daughter come along and say something to the effect of  'Too bad we don't have any marshmallows to feed the alligator.'  EXCUSE ME, Did I hear that right?  Are you morons really feeding an alligator marshmallows?  I guess they don't understand the consequences. 

This is what happens when you feed the wildlife, which is illegal in Texas, by the way.  They walk across your front porch and settle themselves in between your garage door and front door.  You back your car out of the garage and almost have a heart attack because this is one yard decoration you can live without.

For those of you seeing these pics for the first time, this 9.5 alligator decided to take up shop in our flower bed.  The game warden had to be called by the sheriff's department to come out and handle the situation.  The game warden said this is one of the most dangerous situations to be in because the gator felt totally comfortable around humans and that is typically when things go tragically wrong.

So the moral of this story is that no matter how appealing it sounds to feed the wildlife - DON'T DO IT!

This public service announcement has been brought to you by two people and a goldendoodle who don't care if they never see another alligator ever again.