American Alligator
Written by Anne Brophy Chetwynd
The largest freshwater reptile on Hilton Head is the alligator. These reptiles havebeen around since the time of dinosaurs, except they have actually gotten smaller!
Alligators can grow up to 12 feet in length and live to over 60 years. Alligators are cold-blooded: meaning their body temperature is not constant, but changes with the temperature of their environment. During the summer they keep cool by remaining in the water with only their eyes and snout visible. In colder months, alligators will become dormant often digging down into the mud. During the warmer months, alligators alternate between basking in the sun to warm up, and remaining in the water to cool down to maintain the best body temperature. Spring and fall is the best time to see alligators since you’ll find them sunning on the banks.
After a courtship in which the male claims a territory and courts the female, she lays between 20-60 eggs near a lagoon and covers the eggs with vegetation. She remains nearby for two months while the eggs incubate. When they have hatched, she digs up the nest and brings the babies down to the water one-by-one in her jaws. The young remain with the mother alligator for up to a year so she can defend them against predators like wading birds. Alligators perform necessary services by digging holes that bring groundwater to the surface. This provides alligators with a cool, wet place to rest while bringing groundwater to the surface for other wildlife to drink during water shortages. They grow to be large predators that help to control the numbers of many of the species that they eat …fish, turtles, snakes, birds, deer and other mammals. If alligators became extinct, the entire ecosystem would change, and many species that have come to depend on them may also face extinction.
Alligators are protected by both state and federal law. You can help protect the alligators by avoiding close interaction with them. They can move very quickly so never approach an alligator closer than 60 feet. Don’t harass an alligator or swim in water (or let your pets swim in water) known to be an alligator habitat. And above all, NEVER feed an alligator. Alligators fed by humans come to expect food with each human encounter, and if they don’t get it, may act aggressively.
