they cannot reopen them.
Alligators are cold-blooded and so
do not have to eat often. Once a week
is thought to be enough, but if they
consume excess calories, the extra
nourishment is stored as fat in the base
of the tail. Alligators can in fact go up
to two years between meals if they have
stored sufficient fat.
All crocodilians continue to grow
larger as they age, but only to a point.
Very recent research here in South
Carolina has shown that they reach
their maximum size when they are 3539 years old and continue at that size for
the remainder of their lives. The largest
alligator caught during the first year of
research on Kiawah was 12.5 feet long, a
very good size for a mature male. Most
adult females are 8 to 9 feet in length.
Alligators generally inhabit fresh
water ponds or rivers, but they can also
tolerate brackish water. On occasion
they do venture into salt water, and
we very occasionally see them on the
beach. In fact, one focus of Professor
Guillette’s research is to understand how
much time alligators spend in salt water.
Thus far, he has found that adult males
will move into salt water marshes for
feeding but soon return to fresher water.
Females, however, spend about half
their time in freshwater and the other
half in salt marshes.
The American alligator’s range
is also relatively broad as they can
tolerate colder weather, in contrast to
the American crocodile. American
alligators are found as far north
as North Carolina and along the
southeastern coast to Texas. However,
there have been reports of alligators in
the southeastern corner of Oklahoma.
Alligators breed in the spring, and the
mating rituals are a sight to behold! You
may have heard alligators on Kiawah
bellowing in the spring and early
summer to attract a mate. Interestingly,
alligators do not have vocal cords but
instead generate the sound by taking air
SUMMER/FALL 2015 • VOLUME 34
Photo by Louis Guillette
When the Guillette team examines an alligator and takes blood and urine samples, they
tape the jaws. The tape is removed before releasing the animal. (Photo by Jack Kotz)
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