Gallery Spotlight
MATERNAL INSTINCT
By Kim B. Parrish
© 2020 – 48 x 30” Oil on Canvas
AMERICAN ALLIGATOR
Alligator mississippiensis
Protected by Endangered Species Act, Keystone Species
You haven’t really experienced Florida until you hear the deep, lion-like bellow of a male alligator on a spring night. Sound waves make the water dance above the gator’s back; this spectacle has to be the primal essence of Florida’s wilderness. But the female gator has a different priority—she is one of the best mothers in the reptile kingdom. When the youngsters begin to emerge from the nest, she carefully picks them up in her jaws and delivers each one safely to the water, where she will protect them from danger for months.
Florida’s iconic alligators were once decimated by humans, and they were once believed to be nearing extinction. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 changed all that, and in 1987, the USFWS declared alligator populations to be fully recovered. As Florida’s official state reptile, Alligators are everywhere in Florida, now we have alligators so big they eat humans. So the government allows a limited hunting season on them, and the humans eat the gators. The state record is 14 feet 3-1/2 inches.
My original oil painting “Maternal Instinct” is 48 x 30 inches; the alligator art portrays a female gator guarding her young. Some of my paintings are also available as limited edition reproductions. Thanks for your interest in my work, and I hope you enjoy the beauty of Florida’s aquatic wildlife.