Fear is a common response to these immense reptiles, swimming quietly in still waters. But these cold-blooded creatures, however large and threatening they may look, are not a threat to humans. The American alligator has existed virtually unchanged for millions of years. There are millions of alligators in the southeastern United States today, stretching from eastern Texas up through southern Oklahoma and Arkansas, all the way to the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Many people often confuse them with crocodiles, although they are in different families and live in two very different places, coexisting in only a few locations.
Crocodiles live primarily in salt-water habitats.
The American crocodile exists in the U.S. only in Florida, and within the state, only in mangrove lined creeks, bays and ponds, Florida Bay, and along the southern coastlines of Florida and the Keys. The easiest way to tell them apart if you happen to be in an area where they live together, is by looking at their snouts and colors. They are very dark in color, deepening to black as they get larger. The crocodile however, is much lighter in color, usually tan to light olive green with some patterning across the back. They have a very narrow snout, like and arrowhead, and a tooth that sticks up from the bottom jaw on the sides and is seen on the outside of a closed mouth.