Quicksand Fans

Here is another wildlife incident, from way back in 2002:

I was in the process of digging the hole that became the Studio 588 clay pit. The hole was about 80 percent dug and was about four feet deep. I was in the hole working with a pick and shovel and using the excavated material to raise the surrounding area. It was late fall and I started the day's work with a fairly heavy jacket and a wool cap but it was hard work so those had come off. The cap was on the ground about eight feet from the end of the pit. I looked up just in time to see a red-tailed hawk grab the cap as it flashed by. The hawk dropped the cap a few seconds later and went on the seek its dinner elsewhere.

Lots of Frogs and tadpoles at my settling ponds, not in the ponds themselves but in basically any ditch with standing water. Lack of predators and tons of food (mosquito larva) makes a perfect spawning ground.

As far as the OP goes, as long as it's not a big Gator (like over 6ft) I'd be wary but not completely discouraged. Little ones are basically grumpy Iguanas. Don't poke it with a stick and it probably won't bother you.