American Alligators

American Alligator

The American Alligator can be found in most of the Southeastern states. The live in freshwater rivers,swamps,lakes, and marshes.This Alligators main predator are humans, because we hunt them for their meat, skin, and heads!

Small hatchling Alligators eat insects, crabs, crayfish, small fish, frogs, snails and many other small prey. Larger Alligators eat fish, turtles, mammals, snakes, crabs, crayfish, birds, insects, and even other Alligators.

The American Alligator uses its raised eyes and lizard-like bodies to swim below the water and see whats on top. They have very powerful tails for swimming, and strong jaws for catching their prey.

Crocodile:~grayish-green color~4th tooth on lower jaw is shown when its mouth is closed~narrow-tapered snout~young are light with dark stripes

Alligator:~black in color~only upper teeth are shown when its mouth is shut~broad, round, snout, young are dark with yellow stripes

These animalsspend most of their time sleeping during the day on the riverbanks or just floating effortlessly on the water.6-8 hrs. a day!

This alligator hibernates under mud during the winter.

Kingdom:AnimaliaPhylum:ChordataClass:ReptiliaOrder:CrocodyliaFamily:Alligatori-daeGenus:AlligatorSpecies:Mississipp-iensisScientific Name: AlligatorMississippiensis

The American Alligator is a rare species. We now have more than one million of these alligators in the world.