Typically speaking; how far north do alligators normally live in North America?

Answer 1

As far north as extreme northern North Carolina, practically extreme southern Virginia, along the coast.

Edit: crocodilians can undergo what is called estivation to survive underground during times where the surface is inhospitable because of lack of water or the temperature. Estivation is a word most people have never heard so I have included a link that describes what it is. It is similar in many respects to hibernation. This would explain how they could survive so far north perhaps.

Answer 2

Most live in Florida since they are protected there with no hunting season. Else where their populations are restricted by hunting season intentionally set to keep numbers low enough that the alligators do not become much of a nuisance.

That said alligators are naturally found on the East coast from North Carolina southward. They do not occur in the appalachians but do occur throughout Mississippi and Alabama and I believe reached into Southern Tennesse. West of the Mississippi they stretched from Eastern Texas and Lousiana northward into central arkansas and Even into the southern half (more precisely the southeastern half) of Oklahoma.

Answer 3

Southern North Carolina.

Answer 4

Um, Jeff, we do indeed have a public hunt on alligators here in Florida, it may not be as big as Lousiana's, and I'm not aware of any other state that has public hunting of alligators on anywhere near the scale of Lousiana's hunts. You wanna sign up? http://www.myfwc.com/gators/public/2007_SW_APPL.pdf

The problem here in Florida is that everywhere there's alligators, there's people building on top of it. Backfill the swamps and put in a golf course community, it'll be great!

Anyway, yeah, North Carolina is as far north as they go, Eastern Texas is as far west as they go.