Be my Valentine? Lady’s Island photographer captures alligator giving turtle a ‘kiss’
Betsy Arrington of Lady’s Island takes lots of photos of Lowcountry wildlife, but one of her photos seems just right for Valentine’s Day.
The photo shows a young alligator and a turtle in a pose that makes it look like they are kissing. She took the photo in the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, located around 45 miles south of Savannah.
Arrington said it was a warm day in the fall, and the two animals were sunning themselves on a log as she approached the Woody Pond area.
“I was just out there taking photos because it’s a beautiful place,” Arrington said.
She said she didn’t hang around the pond long after taking the photo because, as she approached, she saw a large “mama gator” with babies.
The alligator on the log with the turtle was not being aggressive toward the turtle, she said, adding that when she passed the area on her way back down the trail, the pair appeared to be sleeping on the log.
They definitely weren’t alone at the pond, though.
“There were a lot of big ones,” Arrington said. “I don’t particularly want to get eaten by a gator.”
Arrington, who is a native of Bishopville, sells prints of her photos in the Swamp Log Artisans Gallery there.
Her favorite subjects are the bobcats that live at the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, but she also makes trips to the Donnelley Wildlife Management Area and Bear Island in Colleton County to take photos of birds and other wildlife.
She said she’d like to travel to Merritt Island in Florida or, one day, to the Grand Canyon or Alaska to take photos.
“I have a lot on my bucket list,” she said. “Any place I can get that I haven’t been.”
