ALLIGATOR BEHAVIOR page 2j:  SOCIAL SIGNALS AND BELLOWING 10  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 
This page was born 08/24/2023.  Rickubis designed it.  (such as it is.) Last update: 07/02/2024
Images and contents on this page copyright © 2001 - 2024  Richard M. Dashnau 
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.

6/02/2024 (about 30 minutes before I saw the alligators fighting shown on another page.) An alligator swimming fast enough to produce a wake usually has its
attention on something--in front of it or...behind it.   The one in front slowed and turned sideways with a slight tail arch to signal to the one following. That allowed the follower
 to come up. The situation did not escalate, and the follower moved past and continued. I'm not sure why either alligator chose to swim East along the North side of the
Spillway Trail that morning. All of the events I describe here are also shown in this edited video.
 

The larger alligator started following the one that had been behind it.  Sometimes I can recognize an alligator because of unusual scars or
other marks. This one has some osteoderms that seem odd on this side, low center. When following an alligator swimming parallel to me, I try to get in front of it so it
 passes by. I also try to get past trees and plants that block the view. 
 

The larger alligator caught up to the smaller one, which moved off to the edge of one of the island mounds. It was all relaxed, quiet interaction.
 

When I passed some plants, I saw something swimming in the water. I was ahead of the alligator, and was watching for it. I expected it to swim past this small disturbance...
...but it didn't. Even though the item was small, the alligator still chewed on it for a bit before swallowing it. Then the alligator moved on, with cicadas and bullfrogs, and LOTS
of birds calling in the background.  
 

I followed the  alligator a little past the Gator Nesting plaque, then lost it when I stopped to talk to some visitors. Gators nearby started bellowing few minutes later, but I
didn't get them on video (but I followed the sound to the events on top of the page). 
   

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).
   
 
And, this page shows alligators at the park, on land, near various landmarks at the park.
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