Louisiana Through My Lens - An Alligator Sanctuary Right In The Middle Of A Major College Campus
This is an only in Louisiana type of feature because only in this state would you find a perfectly managed wetland complete with bullfrogs, 50-pound snapping turtles, yellow- and red-bellied turtles, soft-shell turtles, garfish, bass, carp and bream, along with an abundance of birds, cypress trees and, of course, alligators.
It's true, right smack dab in the middle of the University of Louisiana campus in Lafayette sits a 2-acre swamp complete with all the natural flora and fauna. The preserve known as Cypress Lake serves as a place for students to relax and soak in the natural beauty between classes.
On this peaceful lunch break, I decided to search out this primeval world in the middle of a metropolitan city, and honestly, I was impressed by its beauty and calmness. You would swear that these images were taken in the remotest part of Louisiana instead of a city of 121,000.
From the University of Louisiana:
Geographically, it was originally a bison wallow, going back to ancient times when bison herds wandering through the area stopped in the shade of the cypress grove, pawing and stomping at the ground. Eventually a depression in the ground formed. The grove was called a trou de taureau in Cajun French, or “bull hole”.The cypress grove was flooded during World War II in the 1940's as a water reserve that could be used to extinguish possible fires from air attacks. Before the cypress tree grove was flooded, it was used as open-air theater for Shakespeare’s plays, music and dance programs.
In 1962, Life magazine photographed students skating on Cypress Lake when it froze.
In 2017 a new plaza was constructed around the union next to Cypress Lake, and this year a second phase of the plaza was completed with the addition of pergolas and a pedestrian pier out to the center of the lake.
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