Westwego Travel Guide

Hunting alligators is allowed in Lousiana with the right license. The penalties for being caught with an untagged animal are quite extreme, however, as killing an alligator without a license is considered a federal offense. Many of the alligators which are hunted here are used for both their meat and their skins. Many locals claim that alligator meat is delicious and it is widely available in local stores and restaurants.

Alligators are hunted by the use of traps. Hunters mark these traps with colored clothespins which are atttached to the trap's lines. When the hunter goes out to check his lines and sees that clothespin has moved or is missing, he is almost sure to find an alligator.

Alligators can grow to be very large, approx. 12 feet or 3 meters, but few of the them ever attain this size because of hunting. To replace the alligators which are lost to hunters and to natural deaths in the wild, special alligator hatcheries raise babies until they are likely to survive on their own and release them into the environment.

Favorite thing: A bayou, by nature, contains brackish water which is a mixture of salt water from the Gulf and fresh water from the river. The salinity of the bayou is very important as it provides a "nursery" for baby shrimp, seed oysters, and other marine life. Without the bayous these creatures would not be able to reproduce and survive. This is yet another reason why it is important for us to protect the environment here.

The captain of our boat pointed out these barnicles growing on a log. Barnicles can only survive where there is salt water, this being evidence of the bayou's brackishness.

Favorite thing: If you travel along Bayou Signette you will see a few large buildings sitting along the shore. These are pumping stations which handle the water which is pumped out of the city of New Orleans, which is below sea-level, every time it rains. The excess rain water is pumped into the Bayou where it will eventually run into the Gulf. If this pump system were not in place, New Orleans would have been under water many years ago.

Favorite thing: Though for me the mention of shrimp boats generally conjures up images from the Elvis film "King Creole", real shrimp boats are much cooler. Our guide told us that from the docks in Westwego it is approximately 40 miles out to the Gulf of Mexico where most of the shrimp are caught. The fishermen sail out to the Gulf and fill the nets on these boats to the brims with shrimp before coming back home to Westwego with their catch.

Favorite thing: Bayou Signette is rich in oil and natural gas so it is not uncommon to be boating along and pass by a natural gas well. They don't look like much, but it is rather important that you don't hit one with your power boat, unless you're in the mood to take a trip to space that is.

Favorite thing: The Bayou is full of beautiful cypress trees that are in many cases hundreds of years old. The knobby points of wood that stick out of the water around the trees are called "cypress knees". These pointy bumps are apparently what allow the trees to live in the water by providing them with oxygen and expelling wastes. Interesting huh?

Favorite thing: As in much of the American South, alligators are common in Westwego. Bayou Signette is fairly chock full of them. In fact the captain of our boat could recognize many of them and called them by names he had given them. What is supposedly unique about Louisiana alligators, as compared to those in Florida for example, is that they are "nice". According to the locals, they very rarely try to attack or even bother with people. It is not uncommon to find people swimming in the same waters where these reptiles live or even to find people feeding them little treats. But no matter what anyone says, there is still no way I'd get near one!