Alligators

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Alligators

• Meghan Burton

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Some Quick Facts

• There were alligators living on the Earth 270
  million years ago
• In 1967 they were put on the endangered species
  list, but recently in 1987 they were taken off
  the list because of their growing population
• In the wild they can live to be between 35 to 50
  years old, in a zoo they can live to be 60 to 80
  years old
• You can tell the difference between alligators
  and crocodiles by the shape of their heads

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Where do they Live?

• North American Alligators live in southern
  United States
• States like Florida, Texas and Louisiana, but
  mostly in Florida
• They are usually found in fresh water (that means
  no salt, so they stay away from the oceans.
• Alligators are mostly found in rivers,
• lakes, streams and swamps
• There is also a different kind of
• alligator that can be found in China

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What do they eat?

• Alligators hunt from under the water so they wait
  for something to come close to the surface to
  catch
• Mainly they eat small lizards, birds, fish and
  snakes
• But they will eat almost anything that come there
  way, theyll even eat other small alligators if
  they are hungry enough

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What do they look like?

• They are darker in color, almost black, thats
  how you know its not an crocodile
• They grow to be about 13 feet in length, but some
  can grow to be 18 feet long thats huge

• An alligators tails is half of the alligators
  complete length. That means that if an
  alligator is 16 feet long altogether, its tail is
  8 feet of its total length
• Alligators can also weigh from 450 to 600 pounds

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Here are more websites about alligators
Living with Alligators
www.tpwd.state.tx.us/expltx/eft/bbsp/alligators.ht
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All About Alligators- Enchanted Learning Software
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Try this worksheet to see what you learned
alligatorsworksheet.pdf
Be sure to check your answers with the link below
Alligator worksheet answers