Now for some FUN FACTS about 'gators

Did you know...?

• The largest recorded American alligator was 19 feet in length.
• Alligators and their relatives are the last of the living reptiles that were closely related to dinosaurs.
• Alligators and crocodiles are related, but alligators have rounded snouts; most crocodiles have longer, pointed snouts.
• Alligators have a strong homing instinct and will sometimes protect their territory from other alligators.
• Female alligators lay between 20 to 60 eggs and protect them during the incubation period - about sixty-five days.
• Females aggressively defend their young for sometimes more than a year. Alligators are considered adults when they have reached a length of six feet.
• Alligators have a life span of approx 30 years in the wild and up to 50 years in captivity.
• Alligators are cold blooded; they do not make their own body heat. They gain body heat by sunbathing.
• The heat of an alligator's nest determines the sex of the babies. If the eggs are incubated over 93 degrees Fahrenheit, they become males, temperatures below 86 result in females. In betweeen produces both.
• Alligators can run quickly in short bursts and have been estimated to achieve speeds of up to 35mph.