Like other reptiles, crocodilians gather body heat from the environment by basking in the sun and lying on warm surfaces. Throughout the Everglades of South Florida gators muck out the grasses and mud to create pools for gator holes where water collects. When the flow of water across the sawgrass prairie dries up in winter, these holes become oases in a land of cracked mud and brown leaves. But all around the water hole, life goes on as usual. Catfish and garfish crowd the pond as fish-eating birds like anhingas and herons perch in the willows to preen and digest a meal.
Hungry deer cross the open grasses to feed on the healthy greenery surrounding the pond.
The alligator shapes the landscape for itself and in the process becomes a wildlife manager that provides favorable conditions for the other inhabitants until the rains come. For a century the American alligator was heavily hunted for its meat and skin. Strong laws and concerned citizens worked together to save the alligator from extinction. Populations have increased to where the gator has been down-graded from endangered to threatened. Animal Bytes Copyright 1996 by Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.