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A good way to, for safety's sake, distract 'gators: Just before, during nesting, and for a while after hatching, the fem. gator has a VERY strong instinct to protect the young. (Male gators and other predators will munch 'em.) She will RUSH towards the sound of baby gator chirps in a furious display. Triggering actual behavior for filming purposes, being careful not to stress the animal, is a commonly applied technique in wildlife filming, and we did this while working on the National Geographic Special "Realm of the Alligator",under the supervision of biologists. We needed to film inside a gator nest, to show her eggs and those of turtles that are also deposited there for protection. We employed a boombox and a tape of baby gator chirps at a point well away from her nest, playing it infrequently and judiciously so as not to stress her, knowing that she would come to the sound to investigate. This allowed us some time to approach the nest and set up lights and cam., to film the eggs and show how the nest is constructed. When the sound stopped (we stopped the tape), she would wander back to the nest, allowing us more good shots of her protecting her (actual) brood. Warning -- gators will charge the source of the sound as long as it's playing -- and tho' they can't run far, some say they can run as fast as a horse. It's quite a rush to see a 10 ft. gator up on all fours, boogying in fury -- with you in mind. I was told that the gator was not unusually stressed -- can't say the same for myself. Christopher A. Brown The Technical Diving Video Library (TDVL) TDVL Web Site: http://www.neuro.fsu.edu/dave/docent.htm Sci-Graphica PR and DOCENT FILMS Personal calls: 904-942-7222 Vid info & ordering (N.Am.): 1-800-373-7222 Outside US:904-942-7222 Fax:904-942-1240 Life is short -- this is not a rehearsal.
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