One of the most sought out sights in the Everglades is the American alligator, which is basically iconic to Florida. You can find this alligator in freshwater swamps, marshes, rivers, lakes, and other small bodies of water.
An adult male American alligator can reach up to 15 feet in length while the female can reach up to 10 feet in length. Their snouts are broad. Young alligators eat insects, small fish and frogs, while adults eat fish, turtles, small mammals, birds, reptiles, and small alligators.
Depending where the alligator lives, it’s colors can change from olive, to gray, to brown or black with a cream-colored underside.
Mating usually occurs in the spring and can last for several hours. A female alligator will choose a place to nest above the water level. Females stay near the nest during the 58 to 63-day incubation period. She will protect the nest from danger. The temperature determines the sex of the hatchlings. Incubation from 90 to 93 degrees produces males while 82 to 86 degrees produces females and anything in between produces both.
Once they hatch, the female will carry eight to 10 babies in her mouth to the water. The babies will grow fast, about one foot per year for the first few years of life.
Alligators are native to the Everglades and are an important part of the area’s ecosystem. Many other species use alligator holes/nests as a refuge and shelter.
For the most part, alligator attacks on humans do not occur, unless there is an illegal feeding incident. In the Everglades, it is illegal to feed, bother, or provoke alligators.
Currently, alligators are thriving in the Everglades and Florida and have not been on the Endangered Species list since 1987; however, alligators do have a new-ish predator, the Burmese python, which can kill and eat an alligator. People are working hard to remove the pythons from the Everglades, as they are invasive and killing the native animals and hurting the local ecosystem.
Come on out on an airboat tour and see an alligator (or many) up close! To book an airboat tour, call Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours at 800-368-0065 or click our Private Everglades Airboat Tours page.
Captain Mitch’s Everglades Airboat Tours are open seven days a week 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. If paying by cash, adults cost $40 (plus tax) and children 12 and under cost $20 (plus tax. If paying by credit card, adults cost $45 (plus tax) and children cost $25 (plus tax).
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