A local tour guide’s view of an alligator’s habits

By: Glenn Wilsey, Sr.

I have lived on the eastern edge of the Everglades for 35 years. In that time I have learned a lot about the alligators and their habits in the area where I live. Privately, as a child playing with alligators and professionally, as an adult, wrestling with alligators and giving educational lectures about them.

Alligators are territorial. A large male alligator of 9 or more feet will claim about 2 square miles of territory. He will have many females, sometimes with babies, in his territory and he will roam the territory to protect them, driving out any rival males. He will have 2 or 3 favorite places to hang out within his territory.

As a rule, alligators are not aggressive. They are actually timid and will not pay much attention to humans or domestic animals, usually leaving any bigger animals alone. However, if something is dead in his territory the alligator, because he has an acute sense of smell, will become curious and he’ll go to the location where the smell is coming from to check it out.

The alligator is opportunistic, so there is always the possibility that our pets may become a quick meal for an alligator. Alligators do not know the difference between their natural prey and our pets; therefore, they should not be blamed when humans act irresponsibly by allowing their pets to run around in the alligators’ territory.

Don’t be afraid to go out and see alligators in the wild.