Well, this can't compare to alligators, but I did get chased by baboons while photographing lachenalias at Cape Point. Even scarier is the fact that the same area seems to be infested with zillions of ticks. I'm not sure if they're from the baboons or the ostriches. These ticks crawl several times faster than American ticks (deer or dog), so check your trousers early and often. Then there was the bull in the Drakensberg that decided he owned the trail, and did not want me to take pictures of that cute little ledebouria.... --Roy NW Boston, MA Global warming update: Colchicum kesselringii in the cold frame has been blooming for a week.