This is Bruce Laidlaw’s response to Scott Thomas’s White Challenge. There are no monsters in our summer lakes. But in the winter . . . all I can say is the bobcat better watch his step.
Posted in: Adventures outdoors, Letters from the Weatherman
White alligator
Posted on February 3, 2010
Torch Lake Views 
isathreadsoflife
February 4, 2010
Oh dear, oh dear… so glad you were not walking along the lake at that time… Quite a sight 😉 and picture !
Gerry
February 4, 2010
Yes indeed. Bruce is very brave. Bruce also has a looong lens.
giiid
February 4, 2010
Oh dear, what a monster…!
Gerry
February 4, 2010
The Cowboy feels someone should contact The Authorities.
Preston Surface
February 4, 2010
I’ve heard about waves freezing in a lake, but I’ve never seen one before. Pretty cool.
Gerry
February 4, 2010
This sort of thing happens on the Bay all winter. It isn’t really a frozen wave so much as a snow and ice pile that built up and then was undercut and . . . oh, it’s a long story. Watching the Bay is an absorbing hobby. You ought to see Bruce’s Great White Shark. I thought I’d put it in a post, but I can’t find it. I’ll go look some more.
flandrumhill
February 4, 2010
Ha ha! What a great pic! This is what happens when pet store gators get flushed down the toilet!!
Gerry
February 4, 2010
Well that would explain why he looks so irritated.
Fee
February 4, 2010
Excellent – you need to start a “Loch Ness” type story – look how long that one’s been running …
Gerry
February 4, 2010
Fee, this is a wonderful idea. We are always looking for ways to build our Winter Tourist Business in the Township.
Anna Surface
February 4, 2010
LOL Neat! You can see the shape of a white alligator! Kind of like looking at the shapes of clouds yet this is snow and ice. Great shot!
Gerry
February 4, 2010
Bruce will be tickled. He has sort of a specialty in ice creatures.
Scott Thomas Photography
February 4, 2010
I thought I only had to worry about gators when I was in Florida! Nature is an artist for sure and one with a sense of humor to boot.
Gerry
February 4, 2010
Yup. That’s what all of us say about her, especially in the winter. That Mama Nature, she sure is a card, isn’t she? OK, we sometimes say other things too. It’s a long winter up here.
Loreen Niewenhuis
February 4, 2010
I love watching the lake in the winter. One spring a few years back, a storm hit just as the large shelf was breaking up. The storm waves ended up stacking the shelf ice into house-sized sculptures on the beach. The day I saw this display on Silver Beach (St. Joseph) was sunny and warm enough to walk barefoot on the hot sand along where these modern ice sculptures were melting. Wild stuff. Always changing.
Gerry
February 4, 2010
Hi, Loreen! I’d have loved to see those huge ice sculptures–especially while standing on hot sand! One year during the spring breakup there was an enormous iceberg floating majestically north past my stomping grounds. It looked for all the world like a cruise ship, complete with flags.
Cindy Lou
February 4, 2010
Ha! What fun to have alligators on shore….unless of course, he was to try and eat you! Great photo, Bruce 🙂
Gerry
February 4, 2010
Nah, he won’t go after me. He’s occupied with the white mosquitoes.
p.j. grath
February 4, 2010
It looks so much like one I was scared and instantly thought, “Where’s my dog?”
Gerry
February 4, 2010
OK, PJ, you’ve been sitting in the Florida sun too long!
Kathy
February 4, 2010
How fun, Gerry! Leave it to you to see this! I love your eye. Look at that fella’s teeth. (You can see the teeth, right? LOL!)
Gerry
February 4, 2010
Glad you liked our resident alligator, Kathy. Actually, the photo is Bruce Laidlaw’s. I would never have gotten close enough to those teeth to take that picture . . .
Kathy
February 4, 2010
Yep, I remember reading it was Bruce’s photo. Apparently couldn’t remember that fact between the time I read it…and wrote the comment. This seems to be a problem sometimes lately.
Gerry
February 4, 2010
Ah. Welcome to my world . . .