Wildlife Encounters

Today on my walk back from the Uni, I took a secret path through this really nice area on campus. We have like 3 lakes (really they're ponds but they call them lakes here). I took a bridge across one of the "lakes" (clearly they're not large if you can build a bridge across them) and I saw a lot of Australian wildlife. There we a tons of birds making obnoxious sounds and cute ducks and swans and stuff. I also saw some more exotic species. Here are some pics

The view from the bridge

A happy snapping turtle

A super cute lizard (bearded dragon, I believe)

A very large spider (yes, I was worried it was going to fall on my head as I took the picture)

And look, I decided to pick up an alligator!

Just kidding, that zoo keeper lady just passed him to me

The other night my friend Allison was over (a fellow Madison student, she's just visiting this fine country) and we captured another large spider. It was crawling on the ceiling. I only cried for like 7 minutes or something. Allison caught it in a cup and put a piece of paper over it.  We released it in the backyard. I really enjoy wildlife, but I seem to enjoy it less when it's in the house. Unless it's a gecko, then we're cool.