Alligator Adventure is the proud home to over 800 alligators that range in size from eight-inch infants to 13-foot adults that weigh five to six hundred pounds each. In the main alligator exhibit pool, more than 300 large adults wait patiently while skilled lecturers explain the facsinating life history of these ancient creatures. The talks are climaxed with staff members feeding the large reptiles by hand.

Located in their own building are two of the park's most honored residents, Casper and Wendy, a pair of solid white albino alligators, who swim together in their spacious pool. These two are part of the only small group of true albinos known to exist.

AMERICAN ALLIGATOR
Class Reptilia, Order Crocodylia, Family Alligatoridae, Genus species Alligator mississippiensis.

ABOUT
The American alligator is much more common today than in years past. At one point the American alligator was endangered due to over hunting. The alligators were hunted mostly for their hides, which were made into handbags, shoes, boots, etc. Thanks in part to new laws and captive breeding programs, the American alligator is now common to much of its original range
Like all reptiles, alligator skin is covered with rows of scales. Along the alligators back is a row of ridges that protrude from a bony plate called the osteoderm. These scales and ridges provide protection from predators.

DIET
Alligators in the wild will feed on any animal including man. Their diet consists of easily attainable prey such as fish, snakes, turtle, small mammels, birds, frogs, and even snails. In the park they eat chicken, nutria (a large rodent from Louisiana), and turkey. From March to September, the parks alligators consume 100,000 pounds of food.

SIZE
6.5 feet to 13 feet. Males may reach up to 18 feet, female rarely grow past 9 feet.

HABITAT
Fresh water shores, swamps, and lakes from North Carolina to Florida and west to Texas.

MATING
Breeding occurs in late winter and spring and usually in the water. It takes about 60 days for the eggs to hatch. Nests are mounds made with raked up dirt, debris grass and leaves. They then deposit their 30 to 40 large eggs into the mound. At least eighty to ninety percent of them will hatch. Hatchlings weigh only a few ounces at birth and are about 8 inches in length. The female guards the nest and the babies; one of the only reptiles to exhibit this behavior. Alligators do not mate for life. Males have areas, which contain several females that they will breed each year.