When you go to visit relatives in Florida or Georgia, one thing that you have to see is alligators in the wild. The alligator or Alligator mississipiensis is native to only America and China. All other reptiles that look like this are usually crocodiles. But alligators live in the United States and American crocodiles live only in Central and South America. This particular alligator was swimming in a pond and chasing ducks. Here is a quote from the Wikipedia article about alligators telling how big they get.
An average adult American alligator's weight and length is 360 kg (790 lb) and 4.0 m (13.1 ft), but they sometimes grow to 4.4 m (14 ft) long and weigh over 450 kg (990 lb). The largest ever recorded, found in Louisiana, measured 5.84 m (19.2 ft). The Chinese alligator is smaller, rarely exceeding 2.1 m (6.9 ft) in length. In addition, it weighs considerably less, with males rarely over 45 kg (99 lb).
I was told 2 weeks ago on an airboat ride near Fort Lauderdale that the Everglades in Florida is the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles live together.
ReplyDeleteWell, I thought it looked more like a crocodile than an alligator. But what I read did not show them both in Florida. Hmm.
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