ALLIGATOR BEHAVIOR page 4k:  FEEDING page 11 page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
This page was born 1/10/2024.  Rickubis designed it.  (such as it is.) Last update: 
Images and contents on this page copyright ©2001-2024  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.

On 12/24/2023 I went to BBSP. I almost didn't because of fore casted rain and a cold front. But, I decided to try to beat the front.  When I passed the
Observation Tower and started East on the Spillway Trail, I noticed two vultures--1 Black Vulture Coragyps atratus and 1 Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura--on the ground near
the bridge (the bridge is about 290 yards from the Tower). I thought I might find a carcass down there.  The vultures took off and landed in some trees South of the trail.
 When I got near where I thought they'd been, I saw two large alligators.  One was in Pilant Slough near the bank, and another was lying on the vegetation about 50
yards away.
   

Both alligators were magnificent!  As I looked at them from a different angles, I noticed that the alligator lying on the vegetation had a large mammal in its jaws.  I waited
about 15 minutes to see if it would manipulate or chew the carcass. When it didn't, I moved to check on where the mother gator and pod had been.  
   

After finding the mother, but no babies, I returned to the gator with carcass.  It had changed position, and the other gator had moved away from the bank and I couldn't
see it.  I waited again for the alligator to chew on the carcass.  There was a good chance that the gator on the bank had moved when the gator chewed the carcass while I
was gone--and was already moving towards the gator and carcass.  When the gator started chewing and tossing the carcass (inertial feeding...repositioning the prey), I could
not see a tail, or head, but I got a clear look at a back foot.  From the long claws, webbed toes, and coarse fur, I'm pretty sure that it was a Nutria (Myocastor coypus).
   

Usually, I look for the tail and head, and use the prominent orange incisors and round, bare tail to help identify a Nutria. But  the tail was hidden, and half of the carcass
was already gone. The carcass appeared pretty old, and although I couldn't smell anything from it; the vultures might have. The alligator chewed on the carcass, paused
for a few minutes, and chewed. It was moving quietly, and not too quickly. But, it attracted the attention of another large alligator anyway (maybe the one from the bank).
This happens often when an alligator is handling large prey within visual or hearing range of any other alligators.  The others will try to take the prey; not "their share" of
the prey. They want it ALL. I have some examples of this on some of my other pages; like this one.
   

The images showing the two gators moving through the vegetation are frames from the video I shot, which you can see at this link.  After brief contact, the gator with
the carcass moved under the floating plants.  The other gator followed, and I lost sight of them both.  After a few minutes, the gator and carcass appeared near the bank.
I moved back a little, expecting the gator to cross the trail with its prize to avoid further disturbance of its meal.
   

The alligator crossed the trail! Even though the other alligator didn't reappear (well, I couldn't see it) this one carried the carcass across the trail without stopping, although
it moved slowly.
   

   

After the alligator entered the water, I found its crossing point and used my 6-foot stick to measure the trail. I scuffed the center of the trail at the end of the stick with my
foot, and slid the stick over to the other side.  The trail appeared to be at least 10 feet across. Compare with the first image below left (122423_29) and we can estimate the
alligator was about 9 feet long.  Not long after this, the cold front hit the park, and drenched me with cold air and rain (I'd made it back to the Observation Tower when it hit.)
   


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

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