Alligator mating season is underway in Florida. Gators typically begin courtships around April, and mating gets underway around May and June. Pregnant females will lay their eggs — often as many as three or four dozen — in late June or early July. Now that it is time for the female alligator to build her nest. She will find a very marshy area near isolated ponds and start by shaping a mound.
Mounds are typically made with mud, plant pieces, sticks, and grass. Male alligators make loud throaty bellowing roars to attract females. Females seldom reach over 9 feet in length, while males may reach 14 feet. Female alligators lay their eggs during June to early July. The female alligator builds her nest above ground. Incubation requires approximately days, and hatching occurs from mid-August through early September. The average clutch size of an alligator nest is For nests that survive predators and flooding, an estimated 24 live hatchlings will emerge.
Only 10 alligator hatchlings will live to one year. Of these yearlings, 8 will become subadults reach 4 feet in length. The number of subadults that reach maturity 6 feet in length is approximately 5.
These estimates are for a growing alligator population. As a population matures and has a higher percentage of large alligators , the survival rate would be expected to be lower, in part due to a higher rate of cannibalism. Eggs: Alligator eggs are susceptible to drowning, being crushed by the female, predation, and other less common calamities.
Raccoons are the primary predator, although hogs, otters, and bears have been reported to depredate nests. Juveniles: Small alligators are eaten by a variety of predators including raccoons, otters, wading birds, and fish; however, larger alligators may be their most significant predator.
Adults: Cannibalism, intraspecific fighting, and hunting by humans are probably the most significant mortality factors. Diseases and Parasites: Very little information is available in the scientific literature on wild alligator diseases and parasites. Raccoons are the dominant natural predator of crocodile nests in Florida and are responsible for a few to many nest failures each year image above.
A female crocodile constructs a maximum of one nest per year and can nest as often as every year or every couple of years, depending upon her health and condition. She can build her nest away from others, or a single site can contain several nests in close proximity to each other.
Once nests begin to hatch we go out every night searching for hatchlings. When shone with a spotlight crocodiles' eyes shine or glow red, even tiny hatchlings. If you spot one little hatchling you are bound to spot more. Unlike with sea turtles, hatchling crocodiles cannot dig their way out of the nest. They are dependent on mom to open the nest up. Once opened, the young can crawl out on their own or mom gives them a ride to water. After the hatchlings emerge from their eggs, the mother alligator immediately carries them to the water.
Sometimes the mother carries the young on her back as she swims. The babies are already carnivores that eat small animals in the water and near it, like insects, shrimp, tadpoles, frogs and small fish. The mother alligator stays with her young for at least the first year of their lives, protecting them with all her ferocity.
A group of juvenile alligators with a mother is called a pod. Sometimes pods include juveniles hatched from other nests. Generally the young stay with the mother for one year, but they can remain in the pod for up to three years. Staying in pods helps protect the young alligators from predators such as raccoons, large fish, birds of prey, and even other alligators. Large male alligators have been known to predate the young.
The juvenile alligators will call to the mother for protection when they feel threatened.
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