ALLIGATOR BEHAVIOR page 4j:  FEEDING 10
This page was born 2/03/2023.  Rickubis designed it.  (such as it is.) Last update: 
Images and contents on this page copyright ©2001-2022  Richard M. Dashnau 

Alligators favor prey items that will fit inside their head. That is, if they can swallow it whole, then they will normally attack it. Alligators sometimes eat deer in the park, but the
larger ones were probably found carcasses, but small fawns might have been live captures. Alligators have eaten large nutria (as I've shown on this website). But, most of 
the time, they will eat things like fish, frogs, crayfish, snakes.... Their strong jaws make alligators well-adapted for eating turtles.  Prey can be almost any size relative
to the size of the alligator.    I've seen 10-foot alligators going after prey that was no larger than their largest teeth (very small frogs and fish). During 20 years of volunteering
at Brazos Bend State Park, I've gathered many photos and video clips documenting how alligators survive in a natural environment. This is the 10th page collecting
feeding behaviors.

Brazos Bend State Park  07/10/2022--during the drought.  The images below and one video clip. First, on 07/10/2022 an alligator was pushing through the mud from Pilant lake when it found
 a Stinkpot. The turtle had a slight advantage because it could move over the mud, but even though the alligator had to struggle to move, it could still move faster than the turtle.
   
    

The alligator caught the turtle, along with a huge mouthful of mud.  Even though an alligator's tongue has limited mobility, this gator was able to discard almost all of the mud while keeping the
turtle inside its jaws!
   

The alligator turned and moved back to the center of the "channel".  The final images show that most of the mud has gone. The gator only squeezed the turtle a few times (without causing the
usual catastrophic shell damage) before swallowing it--while avoiding swallowing the stick which was also in its mouth.  That's all visible in the video clip.
   
   

On 07/17/2022  Water levels had dropped in Pilant Lake since May.  Most of the animals trapped by the shallows were eaten during June. A few alligators still
 worked the shallows in July.  Most of the remaining prey seemed to be tadpoles.  All of those dimples on the surface of the water aren't raindrops, but the faces of surfacing tadpoles.
This alligator is moving forward while waving its front legs. It is herding prey ahead of it, then twisting its jaws sideways to catch it.  The water is very shallow, and sometimes the mud
 from the bottom is visible as the gator pushes through it. Most of the images shown below are frames from this video.
   
  

Nothing was jumping out of the water as the alligator moved forward, so I assumed that very few fish were left among the tadpoles being pursued.  This wasn't the only alligator foraging here.
Unlike a few weeks ago,  the alligators on this day were very tolerant of each other.  Another, smaller alligator was using the same technique and moving towards this one. They did not seem
 to be interested in each other at all.  Both of them were waving their forelegs and twisting to catch prey. This is a variation of the "seining" behavior I've mentioned before, and which I've also
described in detail here.
   
   

 I knew that at some point they would acknowledge each other, and one would probably just move away.  I was mildly surprised to see the larger gator turn away. The large alligator kept
moving, eventually getting into the very soft, exposed muck. I think that the alligator had decided to look for better hunting elsewhere.  All of those channels were not eroded by running water,
but probably made by alligators as they pushed through the mud. Gators followed paths made by other gators, deepening the trails.  The water flowing in the active channel (easily seen in
the video)  is being moved by the passage of the alligator. 
   

This alligator turned a little later and moved up to the edge of the trail.  Most of the time, an alligator that has just left the water will  pause at the edge of a trail  before continuing across.  It's
usually just for a few minutes, but sometimes for much longer.  This one didn't pause long before crossing the trail into Pilant Slough.
  
 

There's the wonderful alligator high walk. The back doesn't flex much, given rigidity by the rows of osteoderms under the skin.  Front and back legs on opposite sides move forward.
  
 

If you'd like to know more about the park follow these links:

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. 

    Crocodilian.com

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 to the main alligator page