American Alligators

Where alligators live | Alligator's predatory habits | Danger of alligators to humans | Gator holes | Wetlands landscape

What alligators look like

Alligators are large, lizard-shaped reptiles that have a

• scaly, dark-colored hide
• broad snout and
• long muscular tail.

Note: Young alligators have bright stripes and yellow blotches, and then as they mature their skin becomes dark.

Protecting the alligator

An estimated 10 million alligators were killed for their skins between 1870 and 1970, when hunting controls were initiated. The American alligator is now listed as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Though the alligator has benefited from legal protection and is now abundant in many areas, habitat loss and changes in water management continue to threaten the alligator, as well as many other wildlife species in Florida.

Where alligators live

The American alligator

• lives only in the southeastern part of the country
• is usually found in fresh water and
• is restrained by the cold temperature and distribution of the wetland.

Because American crocodiles are rare in Florida and are very secretive, if you see a crocodilian in the wild, it is most likely an alligator.

Alligator living arrangements are not random, they are determined by their society and courtship habits.

Alligators once dominated life in Florida's wetlands. By building and maintaining ponds and nests, alligators created a habitat that supports a rich array of life in the wetlands. The decline of the alligator throughout most of the 20^th Century has disrupted this relationship and altered the ecology of Florida's wetlands.

Alligator's predatory habits

Alligators eat anything that they catch, including

• fish
• turtles
• raccoons
• birds
• dead animals
• other alligators and
• the occasional human.

An alligator can float motionless in the water with only its eyes and nostrils exposed, waiting for a meal. Its powerful jaws can easily crush the shell of a turtle or the bones of an animal.

Danger of alligators to humans

Alligators have been known to injure or kill people and pets. Most attacks occur in the water, suggesting victims are mistaken for prey. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission receives thousands of nuisance complaints every year. Many of these alligators must be killed because there are few places where they can be relocated.

Gator holes

In the swamps and marshes of Florida, the typical home of the alligator is an alligator pond, referred to as a "gator hole," which is a depression that holds water during the dry season. Without a resident alligator, the ponds fill up with mud and vegetation within a few years.

Wetlands landscape

The ponds, nests and trails of alligators have shaped and contoured the landscape of the Florida wetlands. The compacted vegetation left in the old nest mounds and pond banks form a peat that is resistant to decay and fire. In fact, much of the high ground in the Everglades can be traced to alligators.