Gator Ready to Celebrate National Alligator Day with These Fun Facts!
Oh, snap! Today is National Alligator Day and we’re fully prepared to “croc” your world with some gator facts. Did you know …
- Alligators and crocodiles aren’t interchangeable. We have gators here in Louisiana, and they’re darker, have a rounder snout and are typically found in fresh water. Crocodiles – which are only found in Florida here in the U.S. – are greener, have a triangular snout and usually live in salt water. Also, you can see some of the crocodile’s teeth when their snouts are closed. (But if you’re close enough to figure that out, you’re TOO close.)
- Speaking of teeth: Alligators can have up to 80 teeth at a time and go through 3,000 of them in their lifetime.
- Half of a gator’s length is its tail, and males can measure more than 10 feet long.
- Though alligators nest on shore, when the eggs are ready to hatch, the mom scoops them up in her mouth and carries them into the water.
- Baby gators grow roughly a foot a year and stay with their mom until they’re about 2 years old.
We’ve also done some investi-gator-ing into the area’s swamp tours, which are the best ways to see gators up close here in Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou.
You can choose from two different types of boat tours:
Airboat Tours by Arthur Matherne
Airboats are a great way to see the bayou while living on the wild side. The boats can go up to 60 mph (they do have a more leisurely option at 45 mph) and you’ll see waterfowl, gators, and the natural flora and fauna of the marshes.
Zam’s Swamp Tours
Have you done a swamp tour before, but are looking for a quirky and unique experience that you can’t find anywhere else? ZZ Loupe, a former WWE wrestling star, runs this family-owned tour that offers a firsthand glimpse at the Cajun way of life, starting with a visit to the ecological park and ending out on the bayou with Zam himself as your host and guide.
No matter how you’d like to experience the bayou’s most beloved reptiles – even if your idea of “experiencing” is just reading these fun facts – we hope you take a moment to appreciate the humble gator today. And if this has inspired you to hop on a boat and take to the bayou to see some of our famous critters for yourself … we’ll be seeing you later, alligator!
