Alligator gar

What a cool suggestion, Paul.

The alligator gar has a long body, almost like a torpedo or a barracuda.

It's usually olive or brownish on top and lighter underneath.

And as we said, it's covered in these hard diamond-shaped scales.

Okay, y'all, this is where their name comes from.

They have this long, wide, alligator-like snout that is filled with sharp, cone-shaped teeth, including, get this, two rows of teeth along their upper jaw.

And the alligator gar can get huge.

Alligator gar can grow to be more than eight feet long and weigh hundreds of pounds.

So, and I learned this from Amy Martin, who's the author of Wild DFW, who's been supporting me with sort of getting this book out.

And she told me recently that, you know, because Alligator Gar, of course, are sort of the turning river is their home base as much as anywhere.

And that when there's a big flood in North Texas and all the dead birds and things get washed in the river.

That's when the alligator gar fatten themselves up and really they have like a gross bird or something like that.

And, you know, I think that, you know, it's kind of, there's a whole ecology that's come together sometimes because of what flows into the river, even if it's not always clean.

So, you know, my impression is that the public's opinion of the Trinity has been changing in that, you know, there's been some efforts to encourage recreation on the banks of the Trinity and in some efforts to maybe redevelop some areas along the Trinity and And, you know, I'm hopeful that maybe that's something that will be even, you know, more of a priority in the future.