Everglades National Park

The Anhinga Trail at the Royal Palm Visitor Center is a self-guiding trail that winds through a sawgrass marsh, where you may see alligators.

Everglades National Park

A warning by the National Park Service on the railing on one of the wooden walkways along the Anhinga Trail in the Everglades National Park.

Alligators rest in cool water along the Anhinga Trail on a hot and humid day in southern Florida.

The Anhinga Trail is one the most popular trails in the park because of its abundance of wildlife, like the anhinga or snakebird. When swimming, only the colored neck of the bird appears above water, giving the appearance of a snake ready to strike.

An alligator rests on a grassy island in waters along the Anhinga Trail. Alligators are able to wander onto the trail where visitors walk. Park officials say that the alligators will not attack unless provoked.

A green heron sits along a path away from the dangerous waters were the alligators hide in murky waters.

Lily pads float alongside the Anhinga Trail at Royal Palm.

Two alligators rest their heads on each other's backs as they spin in a circular motion in some sort of spring courtship in the waters along Anhinga Trail.

A view of Florida Bay from the Flamingo Visitor Center in the Everglades. Boat trips are available for travel out into the bay. Ninety minutes will cost you $26, with possible views of dolphins, manatees and American crocodiles.

A blue heron poses for the camera along Buttonwood Canal in the Everglades National Park. Buttonwood Canal, at the Royal Palm Visitor Center, is a man-made waterway built in the 1950s to connect Florida Bay to Whitewater Bay.

A baby crocodile sits in the shallow waters of Buttonwood Canal.

Along Tarpon Creek heading towards Whitewater Bay, wildlife warning signs, like this one for manatees, are posted.

A manatee swims towards the shore and begins to reach up to eat plants along Buttonwood Canal. As one observer described, "It's like watching paint dry."

An osprey sits on a tree branch along the Buttonwood Canal after hunting and capturing a fish.

The osprey begins to clean the fish.

The osprey gives a stare before returning to the nest to feed his family.

The waters of Buttonwood Canal and Coot Bay are reddish from the limbs of the red and black mangroves that curl down and upward into the water. The Seminoles called them the trees that walk.

Both sides of the canal are covered with red and black mangroves and tree branches covered in Spanish moss.

A dead tree sits near the Coastal Prairie Trail, just past Flamingo, at the end of the road that leads into the Everglades National Park.

A black vulture dines on a candy bar outside the grocery store near the Flamingo Visitor Center. Vultures are known to chew the rubber of parked cars, including windshield wipers and the seals around windshields, doors and sunroofs.

A group of White Ibis wade in the Eco Pond near the Flamingo Visitor Center. The birds feed by probing with their long, downcurved beaks. Their diet consists of various fish, frogs and other water creatures, as well as insects and small reptiles.

A Great White Heron stands alone along the shore of Mrazek Pond.

The waters of Sawgrass Recreation Park near Weston, Fla. Sawgrass offers 30 minute airboat tours of the Florida Everglades.

On the tour, we encountered a 10-foot-long alligator. At first, the gator kept its distance - but moved closer and closer as the boat captain gave a lecture about wildlife in the area. Once the alligator got next to the boat we moved on.

A Great White Heron poses for the camera as he walked up and begged for food at the Sawgrass Recreation Park.