Skip to main content

15 American alligator facts

Hopefully some of these will make you as awed by alligators as I am.

  1. Alligators can climb fences. In fact, they've gotten into NASA buildings.
  2. Alligators can use tools. Now I don't mean a hammer (but boy would that be cool), I mean that they balance sticks on their snouts to try and lure birds into landing.
  3. Alligator moms are the most protective reptile moms. They guard their nests, help the babies get out of the nest, and respond to their calls for help.
  4. Alligators skulls are so thick that they can do some serious damage just whacking you with their heads.
  5. Alligators can hibernate (kinda). Apparently for reptiles it's called brumation, but it's a lot like hibernation. Anyways, alligators can just kinda be in frozen water and stick their snouts out a bit and survive it, despite being cold-blooded.
  6. Alligators can shift the position of their lungs in order to change their position in water.
  7. Alligator blood is insanely resistant to infection. It's being studied to see if we can adapt it to help humans somehow.
  8. The sex of alligators is determined by the temperature around them.
  9. Alligators can get up to 30mph on land.
  10. Alligators' eyes can reflect back light, making them look like they're glowing red if you shine a light on them in the night.
  11. Alligators used to be endangered, but have made a great recovery.
  12. Alligators eat fruit.
  13. When alligators' teeth get worn down, they're replaced with new ones. Alligators can go through about 3,000 teeth during their lives.
  14. Alligators have one of the strongest bites of animals that are still extant.
  15. Alligators first appeared about 37 million years ago, so basically they won evolution.
(Prompt by me)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

15 things I'm looking forward to for summer 2024

It'll be here so soon!  Whale watching with a friend Bookstore crawl with a friend 57th Street Art Fair Beach days Movies in the park Swapping out my wardrobe Being done with egg retrievals (hopefully) Helping a friend plan her wedding Going to Galena Taking other trips with friends Doing more sessions of my D&D one shot Eating ice cream on hot days Dining at the Point Trying to find an agent for my picture book ideas (hopefully) Reading more (hopefully) (Prompts by me) "Sperm Whale diving" by Bernard Spragg. NZ
Post a Comment
Read more

Starting my parental journey, part 9

You can  read part 1 here ,  read part 2 here ,  read part 3 here ,  read part 4 here ,  read part 5 here ,  read part 6 here ,  read part 7 here , and read part 8 here . I've officially begun my second cycle. On Wednesday, I had a virtual appointment, yesterday I had my baseline ultrasound, and today I began injections again. On Wednesday, I expressed my concern about my weight and was told not to fret about it for this cycle but that I should work on it for my health. I got told some vague things about measuring my food by volume and weight and that being the key the weight loss (idk it sounded weird to me). But other than that my appointment went well and I really liked the PA I met with. Overall, she was supportive and encouraging me to advocate for myself. Yesterday, I had to get up earlier than normal (6am) so I could make it to my ultrasound at 7am (I have asked for future ultrasounds to be at 8am). I got weighed (ugh), had my blood drawn, and t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Starting my parental journey, part 8

You can  read part 1 here ,  read part 2 here ,  read part 3 here ,  read part 4 here ,  read part 5 here , read part 6 here , and read part 7 here . I have begun birth control again. Now, that may sound like I'm bailing out of my fertility journey, but it's actually the opposite. In order to get everything ready for the egg retrieval, I need to hop on birth control for a little bit and then hop off. It feels a bit odd to be taking oral birth control, have a birth control arm implant, and be getting ready for an egg retrieval--but that's how it goes (for me at least--getting to keep the arm implant is rare or so I'm told). People have asked me how I'm feeling about this round of egg retrieval and honestly, I haven't thought about it much yet. I am focused on a big stressful event for work and then C2E2 (Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo--basically, Chicago's Comic-Con) which I attend every year. Because of these two events (one stressful, one fun), I del...
Post a Comment
Read more