About a year ago me and my brother decided to drive to Florida to visit a friend that had moved there. We did a lot of things during our time there including driving through a few state parks in search of the awesome American alligator ( Alligator mississippiensis). It was a chilly day so it was understandable not to see any of these animals right away, but after about an hour of searching we came across this guy basking on on the side of the water. The American Alligator is one of the largest reptile in North America reaching lengths of up to about 16 ft in males and 8 to 10 ft in females. It is crazy to think about how an animal this large originates from a baby alligator that is only 8 or 9 inches long. Its hard say for sure how big this guy was because he was so far away but I would guess that he was around 10 ft long. This species is easily differentiated from an American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) by its broad snout. These guys love to live in swamps, lakes, bayous, marshes, and other similar bodies of water. When it comes to food the American alligators not picky in any way. They will eat almost anything they can catch, amphibians, mammals, birds, etc. At one time these wonderful animals were very endangered, but due to their protected status and reintroduction programs they have come back from the brink of extinction and are now commonly found throughout their habitat.
(Sammy Peppers)
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