Alligators,
although they are ectothermic and also equipped with a small brain,
exhibit
a surprising diversity in their responses to their environment and to
each
other. They
are for more complex than mere animated logs or 12-foot-long
eating machines. This group of pages show some of what I've been able
to
see in the years I've been
volunteering (September of 2001 thru August of 2023) at Brazos Bend
State
Park.
07/30/2023 Brazos Bend State
Park is still
recovering from the drought of last year. Pilant Lake looks better than
it did last July. The lake also looks
quite different than it did over the past few years, since
different plants
appeared during the dry spell last summer.
A large alligator had been following a slightly smaller one. The small
one moved around some plants and avoided the large one. When
both gators stopped
moving,
I walked away. I hurried back when I heard the
gators bellowing. Although
most bellowing happens during mating season, alligators may
bellow at other times. Mating
season ends before June. I can only guess why the first
alligator bellowed (and which one it was). But one bellow can start a
chorus of answering
calls.
An hour later, the large gator was still feisty. It was in
"head oblique, tail arched (HOTA)" position, so I prepared for the
alligator
to say something else. The gator did a
headslap! The two Green Herons that were hunting
nearby were not happy about
it; especially the one on the branch, which seemed to scold the gator.
With the headslap
slowed 3 times, we can see
that the gator transmitted a SAV (subaudible vibration) by
fluttering its back during the headslap.
Both of these signals can be heard and
seen in this
short edited video.
Alligators can transmit a lot of information to other gators through
various vocalizations and movements. They can "filter" ambient sounds
(such as bullfrog calls) so
they can ignore them. One study suggests that an alligator can discern
the size of a calling alligator by sound of its bellow. It's
hard
to say why this
alligator was so
demonstrative on this day. This environment has all
kinds of animals which fill the area with sounds and movement. The
signals of alligators are within that blend, and
only the
alligators can decode them.
On 04/09/2023 It
was about 61° F at 8:40am on the 40 Acre Lake trail near Pilant Lake. I
could hear alligators bellowing from some distance somewhere
in
the lake. I'd hoped to see some of the bellowers, but thought I'd be
disappointed when I couldn't find them and the bellowing stopped.
About 15 minutes later, some
alligators came into view,
although they were still at least 50 yards away. When the
distant
bellowing started again the alligators began to move. I thought that
they might
join the chorus, so they'd want to move to a
shallow spot--like that little island where the Great Blue Heron was
standing. Instead, luck was with me, as the alligators
moved towards me! And then they started to bellow.
It sounded like 2
males and at least 2 females. I could see them, but both males were
submerged deeper than usual, so
there was limited "water-dancing" over them. This
made visual
identification difficult. Two of the females moved to the male that had
been bellowing in front of me.
One moved past
him, and started
bellowing. One female stayed near him while the other moved closer to
the bank and bellowed. The chorus went on for a few minutes
more,
then was over by 9am. What a wonderful way to spend 20 minutes!
I've
put together a short video clip that shares some of the highlights,
until the breeze woke up,
and blew on the microphones. You can view the video
at this link. There are more examples of alligator
communication on my other web pages. Here
is one of them.
Another
alligator in Pilant Lake was swimming toward a spot the trail about 40
yards away. When I got there, I found the alligator with its
nose
against the bank. This often
means the alligator is
about to leave the water and cross the trail, so I moved back a bit and
waited. The alligator climbed up and waited in the grass. I
pointed it out to
several park visitors, and some of them waited
with me to see if the gator would cross. It did, at about
9:45am. At first glance, the images below may all
look the same,
but they are each a detailed part of a single alligator step.
While I'm on the
trail, I usually carry a 6-foot
staff with me. Among other tasks, it's useful for
demonstrating
the width of the trail, and with that, the length of an alligator
crossing the trail. Here, I show that the trail is
about 2
feet wider than my staff is long, or about 8 feet when placed near the
alligator crossing. The alligator was about 8
feet long. There are many other examples of
alligators moving over land on my other web pages. Here
is one of them.
When
the alligator moved into 40 Acre Lake, it didn't bother to stand and
high-walk, it just slid across the mud. The images below show
what a fresh alligator slide mark
looks like-along with the gator
that made it-and an older one to the left. It's another example of
animal traces, or ichnology-a recording of animal behavior preserved in
the
mud. To make a trace, there are three basic elements:
1)Subtrate (the mud); 2)Anatomy (the alligator's belly);
3)Behavior (sliding over the mud).
Brazos Bend State Park The main page.
Brazos Bend State Park Volunteer's Page The volunteer's main page.
Here are a few links to more information on alligators. There's a LOT of it out there.
Fish and Wildlife Endangered Species
And, this page shows alligators at the park, on land, near various landmarks at the park.Go back to my main alligator page, Alligators
Go back to my home page, Welcome
to rickubis.com
Go
back to the See
the World
page.