A Is For Alligator

A Is For Alligator

Being a relocated Pennsylvanian living in the South, alligators kind of fascinate me.  I moved my family to Florida in the fall of '08.  Having never seen an alligator before, my first order of business.  We lived right on Crescent Lake, so I thought this would be easy.  Not so!

It was months before I got a peek at one while out on a boat with my friend Run Ronnie Run. (note: That is not his real name. He just resembles him)

I didn't even get to really see the alligators.  They were 99.9% underwater!

But, the boat trip was fun :)

Anyway, now we are living in Georgia and I never got to see much of the alligators in Florida. I really wanted to touch one. Maybe when we go back to visit next year they will be less shy.

Some interesting facts about alligators are as follows:

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  There are only two existing alligator species: The American Alligator & The Chinese Alligator.
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  Early Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida called the alligator el legarto which means "lizard".
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  The average lifespan of an alligator is 50 years.
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  They can get huge!  The largest alligator recorded in Florida was 17 feet 5 inches! The average adult weighs in at 800 lbs and is 13 feet long.
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  Large adult alligators like to live alone and are very territorial.
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  Alligators prefer to eat their meals in one single bite but will attack larger prey by using a death roll or by letting it rot at the bottom of their body of water so they can tear of bite sized chunks.
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  An alligator's jaw muscles are awesome for biting down, but not so hot for the act of opening up and saying 'Ahhhh', which is why you see those animal dudes using their hands or duct tape to immobilize the alligator's mouth.
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  Though an alligator will usually shy away from humans, don't be fooled into thinking they are harmless. Never provoke an alligator, no matter how many wildlife shows you watch. They bite!