The Eagle's View

American alligators are found in thesoutheast America, all ofFlorida andLouisiana, the southern parts ofGeorgia,Alabama andMississippi, coastalSouth andNorth Carolina, EasternTexas, the southeast corner ofOklahoma and the southern tip ofArkansas. According to the 2005 Scholastic Book of World Records,Louisiana is the state with the largest alligator population. The majority of American alligators inhabit Florida and Louisiana, with over a million alligators in each state. Wow, that’s a lot of alligators!
American alligators live infreshwater environments, such as ponds,marshes,wetlands, rivers, lakes, andswamps, as well as brackish environments. Southern Florida is the only place where both alligators andcrocodiles live side by side.

Large male alligators aresolitaryterritorial animals. Smaller alligators can often be found in large numbers close to each other. The largest of the species (both males and females), will defend prime territory;
Although alligators have a heavy body and a slowmetabolism they are capable of short bursts of speed, especially in very short lunges.. Alligators are generally timid towards humans and tend to walk or swim away if one approaches. This has led some people to the practice of approaching alligators and their nests in a manner that may provoke the animals into attacking. In the state ofFlorida, it is illegal to feed wild alligators at any time. If fed, the alligators will eventually lose their fear of humans and will learn to associate humans with food, thereby becoming a greater danger to people.

When young, alligators eat fish, insects,snails, crustaceans, andworms. As they mature, progressively larger prey is taken, including larger fish such asgar, turtles, various mammals, birds, deer and other reptiles. Their stomachs also often containgizzard stones. They will even consumecarrion if they are sufficiently hungry. Adult alligators can take razorbacks and deer and are well known to kill and eat smaller alligators. In some cases, larger alligators are known to ambush dogs, Florida Panther andblack bears, making it the apex predator throughout its distribution. As humans encroach onto their habitat, attacks are few but not unknown. Alligators, unlike the large crocodiles, do not immediately regard a human upon encounter as prey, but may still attack in self-defense if messed with.