Alligators are territorial. If you find their tracks you've found them. You just can't see them. Remember this if the tracks look especially large! Expecially large alligators are big enough to keep their territoy.

Preserves aren't zoos. We've seen so many people walking around the preserve, chatting away and looking in the water for alligators then being disappointed when they don't find any. I've heard them say there aren't any there. Meanwhile, in the short 300 feet they walked, they've walked past 5 beaten trails to the water and trampled a couple tracks in the trail. They don't realize its high noon, 95 degrees and way to hot for an alligator to be sitting out sunning it's self waiting for people to come look at them. Don't they know that alligators hunt mainly at night? If they see any at all they will be smaller ones, hungry ones, or gators with something other than food on their mind. Remember if you see an alligator in the day time it's either because it's hungry and hunting for food, or it's out looking for safer territory because a larger one is too close by and it might be eaten by it or maybe it's just finished eating and is warming up to digest it's food.

The photo to the right is a gator hole. You can see the path down into the hole in the lower left. Gators will make deeper areas in the marsh and when the water level lowers, as it has here, (most of the rest of the marsh was dry) these areas will remain filled with water. As the water in the marsh disappears and the alligators settle down into their holes they will use the paths more and these will be more visible. You will find an alligator here. You just have to be patient.

Alligator Tracks

The following photos were taken at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Preserve.

They were taken at about the distance that this man is at. This is a 5 to 6 foot gator. A general rule of thumb in determining size of an alligator is to guess the number of inches between the eyes and the nose and that will be about how long the alligator is in feet.

If it seems that the photo to the right was taken in a hurry it was. After lounging around a while and getting it's picture taken this gator decided to approach quickly.
Gators do that. That is why a respectful distance is needed.

By the way, the alligator above is waiting for this fisherman to catch something. This alligator looks small in the photo but it's not. Measuring between the nose and eyes makes this about 6 to 7 feet long. That's an older alligator and it's breeding size. Alligators this size can seriously bite you.


Alligators can run at speeds of up to 20 miles per hour. But this is only for short distances. Of course, that doesn't make any difference if your standing within that first lunge distance!


Lifespan
Alligators in the wild are believed to live 35 - 50 years.



The longest recorded length for an alligator is 19' 2". This animal was trapped in the early 1900's in the State of Louisiana. Most wild alligators do not get above 13 feet in length and may weigh 600 pounds or more. Of course, this is just the "Official" record. There are many stories of larger alligators.

The average alligator (and most of the ones you'll find on this page) will be about 5 to 6 feet long. These are breeding size and even though they aren't huge monsters they're the ones sitting on the nests and hanging around protecting the babies.

There are a few exceptions on this page. The alligator pictured at the top of this page and the one to the right were large. The one on the right is about 8 to 10 feet. He is longer than the 6 feet+ high grass. The one at the top was even bigger.



When an alligator bites just the bottom jaw moves. The top is part of the alligators head and doesn't open and close. He lifts his head and opens his bottom jaw to bite. An alligator's mouth has powerful muscles that will snap its jaws shut when it captures its prey; however, the muscles to open its mouth are weak. A man could easily hold an alligator's mouth shut, but watch out if he lets go!



Alligators are carnivorous reptiles whose primary feeding time is at night. Small alligators will eat snails, frogs, insects, and small fish. Larger gators will eat fish, turtles, snakes, waterfowl, small mammals, and even smaller alligators.

A Black-backed Stilt looks tasty...











Or, how about a dead soft nosed turtle?









Alligators swallow their food whole. The teeth of an alligator are conical shaped and are made for grabbing and holding, not for cutting. When dealing with larger prey, an alligator may shake its head or spin its body in order to tear off a piece small enough to swallow.




This fine fella was about 7 feet long. He has obviously fed and was so stuffed he couldn't move. Yet he was very alert!
We've never had an alligator watch us like this one did.

What does the name "Alligator" mean and where did it come from?
In The Travailes of an Englishman, published in 1568, Job Hortop says that "in this river we killed a monstrous Lagarto or Crocodile." This killing gives rise to the first recorded instance of alligator in English. Alligator, which comes to us from Spanish el lagarto, "the lizard," was modified in pronunciation and form in several ways before taking on the form alligator. The earliest recorded form of alligator that is similar to ours appears in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (First Folio, 1623): "In his needie shop a tortoyrs hung,/An Allegater stuft." Answers.com

Alligator Hide

Alligator hide is used for handbags, belts, cowboy boots, attaché cases, and clothing. Alligator meat (mainly it's tail) is eaten.

Alligator farming programs run in Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Texas and South Carolina, are done under close regulatory scrutiny and controlled commercial harvesting of alligators is actually positive for conservation.

Alligators have been off the U.S. endangered species list since 1987 and have reached such high numbers that they must be managed for conservation and safety reasons. Eggs are collected from the wild for the farms. In Louisiana, when the animals are about 1 year old, 17 percent are mandated by state law to be returned to the wild. Louisiana is the world's top producer of farm-raised American alligator hides for the classic leather market, which accounts for about $38 million a year. Except from Berkshire Publishing

Cropping is only allowed from certain populations, protecting peripheral populations that are still recovering. Ranching programs usually have to return a high percentage (17% in Louisiana) of juveniles back into wild populations, although recovery in these areas has now been documented and further reintroduction is likely unnecessary. Alligators have been successfully reintroduced or restocked in several states (e.g. Arkansas, Mississippi). Alligator hunting is allowed in several states under strict quota or license guidelines. In Florida, the results of harvesting have shown that up to 13% of subadult to adult animals, plus all the eggs from 50% of all located nests, can be safely removed from the alligator population annually without affecting population stability. These kinds of figures are vitally important for proper management programs for alligators and other species. Crocodilian Specis List by Adam Britton

Alligator Skin

Excerpt from the Los Angeles Zoo website:
"Like all reptiles, alligator skin is covered with rows of scales. The scales are made of keratin, the same protein that forms the human hair and fingernails. This thick covering protects the body from the effects of both water and sun. An alligator's body design is well adapted to life in an aquatic environment. Its eyes, ears, and nostrils are located on the top of the head, enabling it to breathe and sense its environment when almost totally submerged. The alligator's strong tail is moved from side to side to propel it through the water. The digits (fingers and toes) are webbed and its short but strong limbs are used as rudders when swimming."

As a group, fossil evidence indicates that alligators and crocodiles have roamed the earth for a least 200 million years.

Excerpt from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission website:
According to government estimates, there are more than 1.5 million adult alligators and 16 million people in Florida. As a result, people and alligators come in contact on a daily basis, usually with no harmful effects to either species. That's because Florida alligators are generally timid and avoid humans whenever possible.

But gators are animals. They need to eat and they're not real picky. They like brush and cover by the waters edge. That's where they hunt. Keep your children and pets out of the lilly pads and away from the waters edge.

Since 1948, there have been about 300 alligator attacks documented by the Florida Wildlife Conservation, many as a result of people who tried to capture or handle an alligator. Only twelve attacks on humans have been fatal.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has a website called ALLIGATORnet.

Gatorland is a tourist attraction but is nicely done.

eNature.com is a fantastic site for animal information.

The Gator Hole is a very informative site developed by Mike Godwin, who obviously loves and respects alligators.

Alligator babies...

The alligators breeding season begins in April. The courtship rituals of the alligator are quite complex, involving touching, rubbing, the blowing of bubbles and vocalizations. The actual mating takes place in open water. Alligators are not monogamous. Male alligators are territorial during the breeding season, and will defend their area against other male intruders.

After mating the female alligator moves into the marshy areas and shoreline where she will build a nest. They lay their eggs in late June and early July and will lay about 40-45 eggs, but the number depends on the age of the female. The incubation period of the eggs is 65 days. The female alligator guards her nest against intruders while they are incubating. When the babies are born they are about 6-8 inches. The hatchling alligators form groups called pods and may stay in the same vicinity of their nesting site for several years. Until the next breeding season begins, the female alligator will remain near her brood, defending them against predators.




Just like Mama's doing here.

Watch a baby Alligator
This video has high contrast. I had to shoot it into the sun because mama alligator was on the other side of the baby.
(20mg. Takes about a minute with a cable connection)

These photos were taken at a zoo. I don't know how that turtle knows the gator isn't hungry, or is it really
fooled into thinking it's sitting on a log?