American Alligator
The large American alligator, with its menacing-looking grin ad huge teeth, is as feared as any animal in the wild. Sluggish by nature, however, it cannot move quickly on land. Together with crocodiles, alligators are descended from reptiles that lived between 225 and 65 million years ago. The name alligator comes from the Spanish el lagarto which means "the lizard." There are over 20 species of alligators worldwide. The American alligator spends all of its time in and around the swamps and rivers of its watery home. Sometimes, the water fluctuates, so the alligator digs its own hollow in the mud which becomes filled with water. This guarantees its access to water at all times and provides other animals with water. Sometimes these underground hollows can be 65 feet. The temperature there remains fairly stable, so the alligator can retreat there to avoid extremes of winter cold and summer heat.
The American alligator’s courtship and mating take place at night in shallow water during April and May. Bulls roar loudly to attract females and to warn off other males. The bull is generally much larger than the female. He will swim in circles around her, finally coming alongside to grip her in his jaws and place his limbs over her body. The female lays her eggs in a nest made of damp, rotting vegetation and mud. After she deposits her eggs, she covers the nest with more vegetation. As the vegetable matter in the nest rots, it gives off heat, which helps to incubate the eggs. They are very vulnerable at this stage; a rise of water level could flood the nest, drowning the young reptiles while they are still inside their shells. The young alligators hatch two or three months later. The mothers stay when the babies hatch out of their eggs, not like sea turtles. One time on a show, a alligator farmer was bothering a female laying her eggs. She didn’t care. The next morning, the farmer went up to the alligator and she lunged forward. When the eggs hatch, the female puts them in her mouth, and brings them to the water. Some of them have even been caught helping sea turtle babies to the water!
In Michigan, there was a house filled with a basement of alligators. Only the owners of the house knew the crocodiles and the friend’s of the man’s wife almost found out. They were using sewing machines which caused the alligators to bellow. The man said that it was the furnace so they left to live normal lives. He wen to the museum and found out that they did a test on an alligator. When a french horn player played a B flat, the alligator bellowed. So he went to a reserve in Florida. He got a band player that play a B flat from the french horn and a tuba. I didn’t work. But at the moment, there was a french camera man and he said "Maybe the experiment only works on a solid floor. Not while the alligators are in the water. The effect of the walls and the ground is different than water so they went to some alligators that were in a place that was made of cement. They played the french horn but it didn’t work but the tuba did. The alligators bellowed with the note so that means that some special sewing machines have a sound of B flat.
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