阿拉巴馬河道縱橫，沼澤遍地，“The best part of the vacation was the swamp tour.”，小拖在他的旅遊日記里這樣寫道。“As I got into the airboat, I was ready and excited to see some alligators. I'd never seen alligators in person, only on tv or in the zoo.”

這就是我們要乘坐的airboat。船老大說這種船底部沒有動力，全靠背後的風扇推動，在沼澤里行進時不會有勾掛。

“The operator started the engine and we were off. At first, we were moving extremely slow to the point where I wondered if the entire experience would be this boring.”我們圍着蘆葦叢的邊沿尋找鱷魚，只找到幾個鱷魚洞。

船老大藉此機會給我們講說了鱷魚的知識：10幾歲有生育能力，生產時會疼得掉眼淚（咦？“鱷魚的眼淚”的另一個版本？）。母鱷魚可以長到9尺，公的14尺，平均壽命7、80歲。鱷魚的牙齒貌似兇猛其實只是個擺設，它們吃東西是囫圇吞棗式，全靠功能強大的胃。鱷魚（alligator）很膽小，見人就逃，不會主動攻擊出擊，兇猛的是（crocodile）。

“Then, the boat turned onto open water and we picked up speed. We sped across the marshy area with the wind blowing in our faces. It was like a rollercoaster only in the water. ”

在蘆葦盪里穿梭，風聲，水聲，好像在吟唱着一曲來自遠古的歌謠：

蒹葭蒼蒼，白露為霜

所謂伊人，在水一方

溯洄從之，道阻且長

溯游從之，宛在水中央

“Suddenly, the engine stopped and the guide pointed out a dark long shape on the bank. It was an alligator.  I could see the bumps and ridges on the alligator's back. We had already learned that alligators were shy animals and tended to avoid humans. Sure enough, as the boat drifted closer and closer to the reptile, it quickly darted away and dove underwater. The loud roar of the engine was heard again and we were off. At one point, we almost ran over an alligator that was drifting peacefully in the shallow water. As we neared it, it jumped out of our way with a huge splash and waddled into the nearby reeds.”

來到一片蘆葦叢，在船老大的指點下，我們看到小鱷魚，遍地！他一伸手不費任何力氣就抓了一條，是個baby girl。

“怎麼看出是公是母呢？”，我好奇地探過頭去，很想他能翻過鱷魚肚皮給我看看，是不是也像螃蟹那樣的公母法。

他回答說：“我這麼捏着的時候，公的會左右擺頭試圖咬我，母的只會靜靜地趴着任我擺布。”

這個，這個，are you sure？

我很認真地撫了撫小鱷魚的背，大名鼎鼎的以厘米論價的美洲鱷魚皮哦，硬硬的，有點兒粗糙，愛馬仕LV 不過如此嘛。