I need lots of facts about gators?

Question

how many are left is the ecosystem endanger reasons behind habitait loss( i hate school)

school HW the only question i need

Answer 1

I couldn't find exactly what you were looking for........but here's something I found on some website that this guy that works at a zoo wrote about gators:










Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About American Alligators

American Alligator
Alligator mississippiensis

General Information
Habitat Facts:
. American alligators are found in Louisiana, Florida, Texas, Alabama,
Georgia and north into North Carolina.
. They live in swamps, canals, drainage ditches, marshlands, rivers, ponds
and lakes.
. They are generally freshwater animals, but they can tolerate brackish water
with a low salinity.
. They can tolerate poor water quality.
. Juveniles tend to stay in areas with protective vegetation: adults will
move into deeper water.
. Females occupy small territories, while males may patrol ranges of over 2
square miles.
. Juveniles remain in the area where they hatch until they are 2-3 years old.
. American alligators are also captive bred on farms/ranches for hides and
meat.

Physical Facts:
. They are essentially unchanged since age of dinosaurs, 65-200 million years
ago. They are the dinosaurs' closest living relative, aside from birds.
. length averages 8-14 feet; record is 18.5 feet
. Gators grow about one foot per year until age 8, when their growth rate
slows down considerably.
. Gator's snouts are broader than crocodile's snouts, and when a gator's
mouth is closed, there are no visible teeth on the bottom jaw.
. In captivity, the growth rate may be faster due to steady diet and care,
plus lack of predation.
. Males (called bulls) are larger than females.
. The tail comprises almost half the animal's length.
. Males may weigh more than one-half ton, but usually average 400-500 lbs.;
the females generally weigh less than males.
. Forty pairs of teeth are replaced throughout the gator's life as they are
lost or worn down: the teeth cut and tear, but don't grind or "chew."
. The scales, or scutes, on the alligator's back are more bony than those on
its belly.
. Like all reptiles, alligators shed their skins: the scutes come off one at
a time, rather than all at once as snakes shed their skins.
. The gator's eyes and nostrils are located on the top of its head to allow
it to see and breathe when submerged.
. An alligator's jaws can exert 1,800 pounds of pressure
. Life spans average 30-35 years in the wild; @50 years in captivity.
. They can outrun a horse; gators can move at @ 30 mph, and they can "jump,"
or raise the front half of their body several feet off the ground/out of the
water, to seize prey.
. The gator's ability to position its legs beneath its body, raise most of
its body and tail off the ground and walk is called "high walking."
. Alligators are the only crocodilians which can live outside the tropics
and survive cooler temperatures.
. Two flaps in the rear of the gator's mouth close off to prevent water from
flowing into the gator's lungs; this allows it to open its mouth under water.
. Gators swallow stones (and other objects) to help grind up food in their
stomachs. These stones and objects are called gastroliths.
. Gators have good eyesight: they see well at night and have color vision.
. Gators also have acute hearing.

Dietary Facts:
. Gators are opportunistic carnivores; juveniles eat snails, amphibians,
crabs, small fish and snakes, while adults prey on birds, snakes, fish &
mammals.
. Gators also eat carrion.
. Larger prey is dragged into the water and drowned (via "death roll"), then
torn into pieces and eaten or "stored" until later under logs or in submerged
holes for later consumption.
. Gators won't feed if temperatures go below 73-68 degrees.

Reproductive Facts:
. Gators reach sexual maturity at about six feet, which can take 7-12 years
in the wild.
. Courtship can last up to two hours before actual mating takes place. Males
rub against females and slap the water with their bodies; they may also push
each other beneathe the surface of the water.
. They tend to mate at night, in shallow water, in April and May.
. A single male may copulate with twenty females in a breeding season.
Females may also breed with several males, unless a dominant bull prevents
this.
. Female gators build nests of sticks, mud and debris for their eggs.
. Each female lays 20-50 eggs which are @ 2.5 inches long.
. The temperature of the nest determines the sex of the hatchlings:
temperatures below 86 degrees result in female hatchlings; temps above 93
result in male hatchlings; temperatures in between 86 and 93 result
in mixed hatchlings.
. The eggs hatch in about 60-65 days or 3 months-100 days, depending on your
source of info.
. Female gators aggressively guard their nests.
. Eggs generally hatch from mid-August through mid-September.
. When the baby gators begin to chirp inside their eggs, the mother gator
uncovers the eggs.
. Mother gators continue to respond to the chirps of their young until
juveniles reach 2 years of age.
. Gator hatchlings are @ 8.5 inches long: they are dark with yellow markings.
. The first two years of life are critical: 80% or more of gator hatchlings
fall prey to other animals (wading birds, raccoons, bobcats, otters, snakes,
large bass, adult gators).
. Hatchlings may ride on their mother's back or be carried in her mouth.
. While juveniles may stay together in groups, called pods, adults tend to be
solitary.
. The Florida Dept. of Natural Resources estimates that alligator nests in
Florida have only a 50% success rate: raccoons are chief predators of gator
eggs.

Other Gator Facts:
. Gators use their tails to excavate large holes (gator holes); these holes
provide water holes for other wildlife. (In the 1981 spring drought in
Florida, ranchers without wild gators on their land lacked necessary
water holes, and livestock perished.)
. Gators' paths through the sawgrass widen and become creeks, which help
irrigate marshes in the rainy season.
. Vacated gators' nests provide nesting sites for wading birds and red
bellied sliders.
. Gators seldom attack humans unless they are defending their nests, or have
lost their fear of humans due to feeding; gators will sometimes attack
swimmers.
. There are two species of alligators: American and Chinese.
. The first Europeans to see gators in the New World were Spanish explorers,
who named them el lagarto, or the lizard.
. Gators communicate using body posture, movement and sound.
. In good weather, a gator will develop a distinct daily routine and get in
and out of the water at regular intervals.

Protection for Gators:
. Between 1930-1940, over 1 million gators were killed in Florida alone.
. Hunting was restricted in the 1940s and 1950s, but poaching remained a
problem.
. In 1962, alligators were placed under complete protection of state law in
Florida.
. Subsequent changes in federal law made interstate shipment of illegally
taken gators a federal offense.
. The decline in demand for skins, combined with gator "farming," has
permitted the wild population to recover.
. The American alligator went from endangered to threatened in 1987.
. At present, you may apply for a permit to hunt alligators in Florida: 500
applicants are granted permits per year.
. Gator farms sell @300,000 pounds of meat and @ 15,000 hides per year: hides
sell for @ $25 per foot.
________________________________________________________________________

American Alligator

Columbus Zoo's gators:

Exhibit Facts:
. The exhibit was built in 1995.
. The gator pool is connected to the flamingo pool. The shared water presents
no problems for the gators.
. In late April-early May, water temperature is @ 62 degrees. It is gradually
raised to @70 degrees. The pool is heated, but the sun also warms the water.
. The keeper skims the pool each day and patrols the exhibit to remove debris.

Physical Facts:
. There are four gators in the outdoor exhibit: one is male, the other three
are females.
. There is a small fifth gator inside the Reptile House: he is in the
alligator snapping turtle tank.
. Weights:
largest gator is a female, 152 pounds
male gator (Savage) is 140 pounds
two smaller females (Splish and Splash) are @ 100 pounds each
. Splish and Splash used to be Education Animals until they became too large.
. The gators' ages are uncertain, but the keeper believes they are between
10-15 years old. In captivity, gators can reach 50 years of age.

Feeding Facts:
. When they are outside, the gators are fed 2X a week; Saturdays at 1:30 and
sometime on Wednesday afternoons.
. If it is cold and rainy, the gators are not fed.
. When it grows cold in the Fall, the gators are moved indoors and off
exhibit until Spring: this year (2001), the gators were moved back outside on
April 27.
While off exhibit, the gators are not fed. This year, they didn't eat
from September until May: each lost only 4-5 pounds over the Winter.
. These gators are fed large rats (usually 5-8 each) or trout. If a raccoon,
bird, or other animal wanders into the exhibit, it may end up as a dietary
supplement.

Points of Interest:
. Visitors should keep body parts on this side of clear wall: alligators can
raise the front half their bodies several feet into the air to snap at prey.
These guys can potentially reach the top of the clear wall. In Florida,
"gator tours" often include a chicken or two suspended on a pole above the
water to display the gators' agility.
. Gators don't make good pets. They grow fast; they can't be "tamed" or
"trained"; they constantly test their limits. Pet stores and dealers
sometimes misrepesent
gators' potential size and temperment.
. Gators seem to recognize their keeper. They respond differently to
different people, and they push the limits with all humans, even their
keeper.

Answer 2

here in Mexico they are of the danger list
in the lagoon near my there are hundreds of gators
i got 5 babies in my garden

see photos
http://byderule.spaces.live.com
the habitat loss applies to more civilized areas like the everglades in Florida
mexico on the coast is still very rural

many people kill them for their skin but the police watches out for that ,as it is illegal .

Gators lay about 20 eggs and are good producers

in the end they will allso follow the same road with habitat loss and become endangered ,but not at this moment not in Guerrero Mexico