Now for the best part ALLIGATORS
Our guide said the gators you can see were not the ones we had to worry about, it was the one you couldn't see that would cause trouble. A few moved when we came near. I did get the impression there was not one move we made that they were not aware of.
At the end of our trip one gator was following us and went under our boat, but did not bump us.
Must admit it is a little disconcerting to be watched by a gator.
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Alligators have remained
unchanged for millions of years and their ancestors date back to the time of
dinosaurs. With their long tails, scales, and giant jaws with
sharp teeth, these predators are often a symbol of fear in the swamp. Because of their bad reputation, alligators were
once hunted to the point of extinction; over ten million alligators were killed
between 1860-1970. We have since learned to view alligators not as villains,
but as important engineers who maintains wetland ecosystems in both the
Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve.
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An alligator's habitat
consists of any location with an open body of freshwater. These areas include lakes, canals, swamps, or even
your swimming pool! The natural habitat for the alligator is one they
build themselves. These gator holes are dug out by the alligator
using a technique called "wallowing." As the gator wallows around its
hole, it is able to scoop mud and remove vegetation allowing for more water to
enter the depression in the land. Wherever the water comes from, other life is sure
to follow; these gator holes act as dry season refuges not only for the
alligator, but also for fish, birds, and mammals… some of whom occasionally
become lunch.
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| this alligator seem to be watching and following us, walking through the water |
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| baby alligator |
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Large male alligators are solitary territorial animals. Smaller alligators can often be found in large numbers close to each other. The largest of the species (both males and females), will defend prime territory; smaller alligators have a higher tolerance of other alligators within a similar size class.
Although alligators have a heavy body and a slow metabolism, they are capable of short bursts of speed, especially in very short lunges. Alligators' main prey are smaller animals that they can kill and eat with a single bite. Alligators may kill larger prey by grabbing it and dragging it into the water to drown. Alligators consume food that can not be eaten in one bite by allowing it to rot, or by biting and then spinning or convulsing wildly until bite-size chunks are torn off. This is referred to as a "death roll." Critical to the alligator's ability to initiate a death roll, the tail must flex to a significant angle relative to its body. An alligator with an immobilized tail cannot perform a death roll.[11]
Most of the muscle in an alligator's jaw evolved to bite and grip prey. The muscles that close the jaws are exceptionally powerful, but the muscles for opening their jaws are comparatively weak. As a result, an adult human can hold an alligator's jaws shut barehanded. It is common today to use several wraps of duct tape to prevent an adult alligator from opening its jaws when handled or transported.[12]
Alligators are generally timid towards humans and tend to walk or swim away if one approaches. This has led some people to the practice of approaching alligators and their nests in a manner that may provoke the animals into attacking. In the state of Florida, it is illegal to feed wild alligators at any time. If fed, the alligators will eventually lose their fear of humans and will learn to associate humans with food, thereby becoming a greater danger to people.[13
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| In summer, the female builds a nest of vegetation where the decomposition of the vegetation provides the heat needed to incubate the eggs. The sex of the offspring is determined by the temperature in the nest and is fixed within 7 to 21 days of the start of incubation. Incubation temperatures of 86 °F (30 °C) or lower produce a clutch of females; those of 93 °F (34 °C) or higher produce entirely males. Nests constructed on leaves are hotter than those constructed on wet marsh and, thus, the former tend to produce males and the latter, females. The natural sex ratio at hatching is five females to one male. Females hatched from eggs incubated at 86 °F (30 °C) weigh significantly more than males hatched from eggs incubated at 93 °F (34 °C).[21] The mother will defend the nest from predators and will assist the hatchlings to water. She will provide protection to the young for about a year if they remain in the area. The largest threat to the young are adult alligators. Baby alligators have an egg tooth that helps them get out of their egg during hatching time. Predation by adults on young can account for a mortality rate of up to fifty percent in the first year. In the past, immediately following the outlawing of alligator hunting, populations rebounded quickly due to the suppressed number of adults preying upon juveniles, increasing survival among the young alligators |
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| The type of food eaten by alligators depends upon their age and size. When young, alligators eat fish, insects, snails, crustaceans, and worms. As they mature, progressively larger prey is taken, including larger fish such as gar, turtles, various mammals, particularly nutria and muskrat,[7] as well as birds, deer and other reptiles.[14][15] Their stomachs also often contain gizzard stones. They will even consume carrion if they are sufficiently hungry. In some cases, larger alligators are known to ambush dogs, Florida panther and black bears, making it the apex predator throughout its distribution. In this role as a top predator, it may determine the abundance of prey species including turtles and nutria[16][17] As humans encroach onto their habitat, attacks are few but not unknown. Alligators, unlike the large crocodiles, do not immediately regard a human upon encounter as prey, but may still attack in self-defense if provoked. |
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