Occurred on December 29, 2018 / Lakeland, Florida, USA Info from Licensor: "My husband and I went to Circle B Bar Reserve on Saturday 12/29/18 because we had heard that Alligator Alley had just opened for the first time since Hurricane Irma. We often go there so I can take pictures of the birds and gators. While we were walking down Marsh Rabbit Run trail we saw this very large gator swimming in the water along the path. We were almost at the end of the trail when we saw a gator lying on the path sunning and sleeping. We could not go any farther or pass the gator since he was blocking the path. After taking a few pictures of the sleeping gator we were just about to turn around and go the other direction when the big gator that was swimming along the path swims up and parks himself right in front of us in the water. He just stared at us through the reeds. We finally realized this gator wanted to cross the path so we all backed away about 20 feet and waited a few minutes and then the magic happened! He slowly makes his way across the path trudging one foot at a time. He was huge! Much bigger out of the water than what I could see while he was swimming along the path. His neck was very baggy which shows he is very old. His trunk was large and his tail was very long and powerful. He looked like a dinosaur. It was almost majestic watching it live in person."