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American Alligator

An alligator inside greenish water amidst dappled shade, with sunlight resting ont he alligator. Teh top of its head and back are out of the water; its legs and part of its tail are submerged. Some plants can be seen in the foreground of the photo. The base of a tree, also in the water, can be seen behind the alligator's head.
Alligators are always a sight to behold. Big or small, sunning or swimming, they are wild and different, both cool and caution-worthy.

I like them, and I also respect them, so I like them from a distance.

The park I saw the alligator above at was brimming with gators, including the one in the picture below. Its head was peeking out above the lake water, looking still as a rock as wave after wave rolled over it. The American alligator's rounded nose helps it breathe as the alligator stays mostly submerged.[1] This one looked so still that when I spotted it, at first I thought: “Is that an alligator or a log?”

Four photos of the same alligator in the water. Each photo shows the alligator's head emerging from the water progressively. In the first photo, only its eye snad the very tip of its head and snout can be seen. By the last photo, more of the back of its head and the underside of its mouth can be seen.

Perhaps that is intentional. 

Blending in is a particular specialty of young alligators. The little one below was hanging out below a boardwalk at a different park. It has yellow stripes. Everglades National Park says baby alligators are born with stripes to help them camouflage; these fade as they get older.[2]

A baby alligator sits in the water amidst vegetation. It has yellow stripes, that look like dots connected together, on its back. The shot is taken from the top down, so it shows the alligator's back and the top of its head. The ground underneath the alligator is brown, and plants are scattered amidst the water.

Alligators have an interesting start to life. The eggs can't survive underwater for too long, so the mother alligator builds a large, high nest out of plants, into which she lays and covers an average of 35 eggs.[2, 3] Before they hatch, the baby alligators start to chirp.[3] I thought this was interesting, since I've seen baby chickens hatch, and they do the same thing. It's very fun to hear small peeps as the chick starts to peck away at its shell. 

Of course, if a baby alligator is struggling to get out, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says the mom sometimes helps break the shell with her teeth (yikes!).[3] The Smithsonian Channel has a very cool video of baby alligators hatching and chirping.[4] Check it out!

The word alligator apparently comes from the Spanish word for lizard: "el lagarto."[3] As babies, I can see the lizard resemblance, but as they get older, they start to look more and more like they'd be perfectly comfortable hanging out with dinosaurs. Here's a bigger gator chilling under a board walk in the same park as the baby gator.

In a photo taken from above, an alligator rests under the water, with part of the back of its head, its snout, and its back out of the water. It is surrounded by vegetation. The water looks dark.


And another, though this time on land:

A large alligator sits on land near the base of a tree. Its webbed feet and ridged back are visible. The front of its head and the back of its tail are partially hidden by vegetation. It sits amidst dappled shade.


Alligators make important differences on the landscape. Alligators dig holes that fill with water and which other animals make use of, especially during dry seasons.[2] Birds also make use of these holes, according to a 2004 fact sheet from the U.S. Geological Survey, which calls alligators "ecosystem engineers" (para. 1).[5]

Lastly, since we talk about bird besties, I thought it appropriate to end with a baby alligator sharing a log with some "friends." Adult alligators can and will eat turtles,[2] but for now, they seem comfortable sharing a log.

A young alligator rests on a log with two turtles, lined up in a row. The alligator is closest to the foreground. The log sits in the water, which is covered in small, lime green vegetation.

The Details: 

Common Name: American Alligator
Scientific Name: Alligator mississippiensis
Family: Alligatoridae
Seen: In and around water
Month: Photos 1, 2, and 6 (June 2023) Photos 3-5 (May 2023)
Range: American Alligators are primarily found in the southeastern United States, as far west as Texas and as far north as North Carolina.[6] The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's website has a helpful range map provided by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Learn More About American Alligators:

  1. Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute. (n.d.). American alligator.
  2. Everglades National Park. (2021, April 8). American alligator: Species profile. National Park Service.
  3. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. (n.d.). American alligator.
  4. Smithsonian Channel. (2018, December 4). Cameras capture the birth of 15 alligators [Video]. YouTube.
  5. U.S. Geological Survey. (2004). American alligator ecology and monitoring for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan [Fact sheet]. U.S. Department of the Interior.
  6. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. (n.d.). American alligator. 


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