The incubation temperature is what determines the sex of the offspring. After laying up to forty eggs the female remains near the nest. The young make a peeping noise after they hatch and this encourages the female to tear open the nest and help release the young. She may carry the hatchlings to water and she guards her young for the next few months. Young alligators grow about one foot per year for the first few years.
Alligators are carnivorous and eat anything they can catch.
They are able to run up to 10 mph on land and can jump up to 5 feet out of the water. They will roar, grunt, hiss and bellow. Adult American alligators may grow up to 19 feet in length. They were among the first species listed under the Endangered Species Act. Numbers have increased so that now short, controlled hunting seasons are allowed in some areas of their range.