While an alligator is NOT one of my outdoor neighbors in western NC, they do live throughout much of the southern US so I thought I would feature them here. Alligators as you know are reptiles, like snakes and turtles. When full grown they may weigh as much as 1000 pounds and be 12 feet long!
American alligators are found in coastal wetlands of the southeastern United State as far north as North Carolina and as far west as eastern Texas. Their range extends down to southern Florida and includes the Everglades. Alligators are usually found in slow-moving freshwater rivers, but also inhabit swamps, marshes, and lakes.
Two, what I had no idea! facts are:
Alligators can live 50 years! and,
in their lifetimes, alligators can go through as many as 3000 teeth! At any one time they have 74-80 teeth but lose these as the teeth wear down and new ones take their place.
Alligators feed on a variety of animals including fish, invertebrates, small mammals, frogs, turtles and birds.
Have you seen an alligator where you live or on your travels? Did you know they can live 50 years?!