OK, we’ve been silent for a while. Let’s ease back into it with photos of cute kittens.

Whoa … no kittens here. Nope, this is an alligator family we spotted while strolling through San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge south of Lake Jackson, Texas.

You did see the whole family, didn’t you?

Here’s a keyed photo. Everyone saw the daddy gator (my guess as to gender) here in the blue circle. Many probably looked closely enough to recognize the baby gators in the yellow circle. More difficult to spot in a still photo is the mama gator, noted here within the red circle.

When we first paused on the bridge above this scene, all we saw were mom and dad, lying against each other along the bank. After spotting the babies, mama quietly slipped into the water and started swimming toward us. There was no way for her to easily reach us … at least, that’s what we believed … but we decided it was time to leave.

Not far from the gators, we looked down from another bridge at a colorful snake almost obscured by mud. It’s not poisonous, but I couldn’t make out just what it was.

Still not a kitten here, but this camera-friendly doe comes close. We encountered her while walking a trail at Choke Canyon State Park near Three Rivers, Texas.

This buck, not too far from the doe, wasn’t nearly as accepting of the idea of posing for a photo.

To demonstrate my ornithological ignorance, I present this lovely bird pictured in Choke Canyon and leave it for readers to tell us what it is.

As we were leaving the park, we encountered this javelina rooting around off the shoulder of the road.

Shift further south to Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge and this looks like the place we may be able to capture some cute kitty photos.

Nope, no such luck. We plan to explore the refuge more, though, and will certainly share any images of wild cats we’re able to snap.

So, unable to produce a photo of a cat in the wild, we’ll leave you with our daughter’s card-playing feline, who decided Leah needed assistance during a game of Shanghai.