Don’t Be Afraid to Open Your Mouth!

American alligators or Gators for short are large reptiles found mainly in the southeastern United States from North Carolina to the Rio Grande in Texas. They are usually found in slow-moving, freshwater rivers. Gators also live in swamps, marshes and lakes.  They can only tolerate salt water for short periods of time because alligators do not have salt glands. 

Alligators are large reptiles. Males can grow up to 14 feet in length and females grow up to 11 feet.  Half of their length is their massive, strong tail. They can weigh up to 1000 pounds. Both males and females have an armoured body. The skin on their back is embedded with bony plates called osteoderms or scutes.  They have four short legs.  The back legs have four toes while the front legs have five toes.  

Alligators are clumsy on land, but they are built for life in the water.  Their webbed feet and strong tails make them great swimmers. Gators have a long, rounded snout with upward facing nostrils at the end. This allows them to breathe while the rest of the body is underwater.  

Alligators are carnivores and are known for their powerful jaws and sharp teeth. Alligators have about 74-80 teeth in their mouth at one time. Their teeth are replaced as they wear down. An alligator can go through 3,000 teeth in a lifetime. Their strong jaws can crack a turtle shell. 

They eat fish, snails and other invertebrates as well as birds, frogs and mammals that come to the water’s edge. They use their sharp teeth to grab and hold their prey.  Alligators swallow small prey whole.  If their prey is large, they shake it apart into smaller, more manageable pieces. If the prey is very large, they will bite it and then spin on the long axis of their body to tear off easy to swallow pieces. 

Alligators are at the top of the food chain and have very few natural predators. While they are mainly aquatic animals, alligators can also be found on land.  They are known to bask in the sun on land to help regulate their body temperature. They are most active during the warmer months and spend most of the winter in a dormant state. 

Alligators do not hibernate but they will excavate a depression called a gator hole alongside a waterway to use when the weather becomes cold or even during extreme heat.  In areas where the water level fluctuates, gators will dig themselves into hollows in the mud.  These tunnels can be as long as 20 m (65 feet). Other animals will use these burrows after the alligator abandons them. 

Alligators are territorial animals and will defend their territory from other alligators and animals. Alligators are naturally afraid of humans. Alligator attacks are rare but they will attack if hungry or provoked.  It is important to respect alligators and not approach them too closely.  

Female alligators usually remain in a small area while males can occupy areas greater than two square miles.  Female alligators are gentle mothers.  A mother alligator lays her eggs in a nest she has made on the shore.  She guards her eggs until they are ready to hatch.  When the babies start to make noises and the mother hears their peeps as they break out of the eggs, she carries them in her mouth to the water nearby.  

Newly hatched young are only about six to eight inches long. The young have bright yellow stripes on their tails.  Their mother protects them from predators such as raccoons, bobcats, birds, and even other alligators.  After they are four feet long, alligators are safe from predators except humans and sometimes other alligators. Young alligators stay with their mother for up to two years and then they are able to fend for themselves. 

Due to habitat loss and over-hunting, alligators are considered a threatened species.  In most states it is illegal to feed alligators and it is also illegal to approach alligators closer than 30 metres.  Alligators are dangerous wild animals and it is important to respect their space. 

These are the sayings I found on the bookmark called Advice from a Gator.

• Take a bite out of life

• Keep a low profile

• Bask in the sun

• Have a healthy appetite

• Keep an eye on opportunities

• Be thick-skinned

• Don't be afraid to open your mouth!

Here are my comments about each of these sayings.

• Take a bite out of life - Be present in the moment and enjoy life. 

• Keep a low profile - Avoid attracting attention.

• Bask in the sun - Take pleasure in doing something that you enjoy.  

• Have a healthy appetite - Enjoy a healthy diet.

• Keep an eye on opportunities - Watch for new opportunities.

• Be thick-skinned - Be able to keep from getting upset or offended by things other people may say or do.

• Don't be afraid to open your mouth! - Speak up!  Share your ideas and thoughts.  You do have something of value to contribute.  Do not be afraid.

Have a great day everyone.  Don’t be afraid to open your mouth!

# living life abundantly  # published author  # travelling tuesdays