*Warning: this blog talks features the ‘birds and bees’ of
American alligators. Blog also contains very bad humor*
It’s no surprise that alligators are considered ferocious
creatures with their pearly white sharp teeth and leather scaly hide. But they
say, "love goes deeper then the skin" and the American alligator is a true
testament of that.
When finding a mate, the male alligators will begin courting
females starting in early April and will mate starting in May or June. In order
to attract females, males will make low bellowing noises as well as splashing
the water with their jaws and tail. Afterword, males will court females by
stroking the females back with their snouts in a calm manner. The female gets
submerged underwater ironically afterword by the male before he climbs on top
to mate (I guess they like it rough).
After mating, the male will leave in order to find a new female
since he won't be tied down to just one gator. The soon-to-be mother (who
for the rest of this blog shall be called Mama Gator) will create a 3.5ft mound made
of mud and plants to serve as her nest. When her nest is ready, she will then
lay her twenty to fifty eggs in a shallow depression at the top of the mound
before it is covered. The Mama Gator will stay near her nest until the eggs
hatch sixty-five days later.
Now getting out of an egg and a mound of mud is
obviously too much for the young, so they do what most children do…they call
for "mommy". Mama Gator will then dig her eggs out of the mound and wait for them
to slowly hatch. When the babies have hatched, she will carry eight to ten of
them at a time to the water in her mouth to encourage them to swim. With many
predators such as raccoons, fish, birds, and other ‘gators seeing her young as
food, Mama Gator will call her young back to her quickly in order to protect
them. This mother will care for her young for a year or even three at best
before the hatchlings go off on their own.
So while they may seem ferocious and powerful creatures,
alligators are also very good at courting and make for great mothers.
Links:
#FLKeys2018 #GatorLove #GatorDone
First of all, love that last hashtag and your humor. Also, I think it is so surprising that alligators have a good sense of motherly instinct. An animal that is supposedly so powerful I would never expect to be so gentle. I also never realized they lay such an abundant amount of eggs at one time. Your post was very informative!
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