Wordless Wednesday…As I Promised, Lots of Babies
As promised last week in my post, here are lots of babies/hatchlings.
In August 2011, Larry and I witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime (for us) event. For several weeks, we’d been observing the alligator nests at Green Cay Wetlands to see if the eggs had hatched. We got lucky. In an area known as the Gator Hole, the eggs had already begun to hatch.
Make sure you watch til the end!
Mama Gator was working hard to uncover them and help them down the mound that had been their nest to the water. One by one, she set them at the edge of the water.
Larry and the others counted about two dozen of the babies. You could see broken eggshells floating on top of the water. We stood on the walkway for at least two hours that morning.
The green on the babies is from the scum in the water.
Did you know that the temperature of the decaying nest material (the decay helps to incubate the eggs) determines the sex of the alligators?
Female gators appear when the nest temperature is 86 degrees or lower; males appear when the temperature reaches 93 degrees or higher.
Gators can lay between 20-50 eggs per clutch. The older female can lay more.
We have no idea how many survived; however, we were able to see some near the banks of the water shortly after they hatched.
I love observing animals almost as much as I do observing humans!!!!
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