It's a serious pursuit and a fascination, ... I write for dozens of publications about all sorts of things, but this is the biggest, hugest prize.

Is it possible, I wonder, to study a bird so closely, to observe and catalogue its peculiarities in such minute detail, that it becomes invisible? Is it possible that while fastidiously calibrating the span of its wings or the length of its tarsus, we somehow lose sight of its poetry? That in our pedestrian descriptions of a marbled or vermiculated plumage we forfeit a glimpse of living canvases, cascades of carefully toned browns and golds that would shame Kandinsky, misty explosions of color to rival Monet? I believe that we do. I believe that in approaching our subject with the sensibilities of statisticians and dissectionists, we distance ourselves increasingly from the marvelous and spell binding planet of imagination whose gravity drew us to our studies in the first place.

That is not to say that we should cease to establish facts and verify our information, but merely to suggest that unless those facts can be imbued with the flash of poetic insight then they remain dull gems; semi-precious stones scarcely worth the collecting.

These are the sorts of fundamental publishing vices of the most serious kind.

There are definitely a lot of gators here, ... The more freshwater a marsh has, then the more alligators you will find there because food will be more abundant.

These animals are highly skilled predators, ... I've recently seen a 6-foot gator in a tributary in West Orange near Adams Bayou.

People last year just couldn't believe they were getting to interact with actors who played such iconic characters. Well, this year we brought more of them and promise it will be an even better show. We plan on kicking off the month of October the right way by bringing true icons of horror to Beaumont and of course giving them a more than ample dose of metal.