Little Ossie is the runt of his swamp rat litter， and when a ferocious rattlesnake attacks and kills his entire family， Ossie expects the end is near. But just as Ossie is about to meet his fate， he is rescued by a very unexpected friend： Uncle Will， the oldest alligator in the swamp. Uncle Will adopts Ossie and begins to teach him the ways of the swamp. But even Uncle Will can't do anything about the terrible drought that's drying up the entire swamp-or about Bubba， a crabby old stork who claims that little Ossie is the cause of the drought. In the end， Ossie has to do what his father and Uncle Will always told him he'd have to do： find his own way.