Alligators

No animal is more connected with our State of Florida than the alligator. It’s the official state reptile for Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. I find it hard to believe that I hadn’t featured the alligator in a past column. The American Alligator weighs up to 1,100 pounds and gets up to fifteen feet long, but the ones we see here are usually under eight feet long. We don’t have to worry about the more aggressive American Crocodile around Tangerine Woods. Those get up to twenty feet long and one ton heavy. Luckily, they stay south of us and prefer salty waters. The easiest way to tell the difference between gators and crocs is by the shape of their snout. Gator’s snouts are broad and the croc’s are pointed.

The American alligator uses low frequency sound, like a rumbling, to attract a suitable female mate. Eggs are laid in a nest of vegetation, sticks, leaves, and mud in a sheltered spot in or near the water. Young are born with yellow bands around their tails and are protected by their mother for up to one year. They grow larger until they are 30 to 40 years of age. Teeth? About 74-80. They bite with a world record of almost 3,000 pounds of force, yet their jaws can be held closed using bare hands. Don’t try that at home. Fatal attacks always make the news but there have only been about thirty in the US since 1970. They were a protected (endangered) species for just 14 years between 1973 and 1987, showing us that they were able to recover quickly.

Sometimes they show up walking around our neighborhoods. Left alone, they will continue going wherever they were heading. However, they can be quite a surprise if you come upon one in your daily activities. I have never heard of one being aggressive when away from the water. They aren’t hunting, they are trying to get somewhere we can only guess. The best action is to respect them and leave them alone. Remember, if you call for it to be removed by a professional, it will likely be terminated, not relocated.

Here in TW, before Hurricane Ian, spotting alligators in the Lateral and the lakes was common and broods of young were heard and seen. In recent months they are returning, and I hope to see babies next year. The sound that they make is like that of chicks peeping. Bright yellow stripes on the tail make them easier to spot.

One day, when visiting the Lateral, I observed alligators swimming towards me. That was a clear sign that someone was feeding them and that is the worst thing we can do. They are happy to take your food, but once they see people as a food source, they must be killed to protect people and pets. This is why I installed the sign near the culvert on the Lateral. When you see a gator, remember to respect it. It is illegal to feed or molest them, so please just enjoy seeing them.

They can sprint, but only for a short distance. If approached on land, run away in a straight line if you can. The experts do not agree with the advice to zig-zag. Just in case, remember that if you jam anything into the back of their mouth, you can cause a gag reflex. They can swim at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour, which is faster than any other animal on the planet, according to NOAA.

Search Google with “Deep Hole alligators” to learn about a unique walking day trip just a 45 minute drive from here at Myakka State Park. After they give you one of the 30 permits allowed each day, it’s a 2 mile walk to Deep Hole where you can see over 100 gators in the wild. This is a sinkhole that happens to be in the middle of the river. A Google search will provide many video links. I’ve done it, and it is very memorable.

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