Alligators In The Everglades: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know
Planning a vacation to south Florida and want to see alligators in the Everglades? Who doesn’t?
Everyone wants to get a glimpse of its least attractive and most terrifying resident!
They also may be the most misunderstood of any animal found in the Florida Everglades.
The American alligator is the largest reptile in North America. It’s also the State Reptile of Florida.
Think about that for a minute — the state of Florida apparently has enough reptiles to have a State Reptile!
The alligator is so iconic in the Sunshine State, it’s come to symbolize not just the history and tradition of the Florida Everglades, but the entire state as well.
In fact, seeing an alligator in the wild is usually on every southwest Florida traveler's bucket list.
Alligators are a keystone species and play a vital part in the health of the Everglades ecosystem.
For the safest up-close sightings, seeing alligators in the Everglades is best done on a guided airboat or swamp buggy tour, a nature preserve or one of southwest Florida’s state parks maintained by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission and the National Park Service.
Early Spanish settlers making their homes in Florida were mystified by these huge reptiles.
For them alligators were nothing more than big lizards, and so they called them el lagarto (Spanish for lizard) from which the term alligator eventually evolved.
Table of Contents (click to jump ahead)
Where Do Alligators Live in the Everglades?
Best Time of Year to See Alligators
Where to See Alligators in the Everglades
How Big Are Alligators in the Everglades?
Alligator Mating and Reproduction
Hunting Alligators in the Everglades
Always remember, the majority of the gator stays underwater!
Top 10 Alligator Quick Facts
How fast are alligators on land? While alligators move faster in water, they can reach speeds of up to 30-35 mph on land.
Where are the biggest alligators in the world? The US has some of the biggest alligators in the world with the current record at nearly 16’ long caught in Alabama.
Are there crocodiles in Florida too? Yup, the southern tip of mainland Florida is the only place in the world where the American crocodile and American alligator co-exist — one of the most interesting facts about the Everglades.
How big can alligators get? The American alligator can grow from between 9 and 15 feet on average, larger than the Chinese alligator.
Are there alligators in the ocean? Alligators are primarily freshwater animals and do not live in the ocean, however, occasionally one will swim through brackish water into saltwater, though they won’t stay there for very long.
How long can alligators live? Alligators in the Everglades can live between 30 and 50 years!
How many alligators in Florida? There are an estimated 1.5 million alligators in Florida.
How many alligators are in the Everglades? There are over 200,000 alligators in the Florida Everglades.
How long can alligators hold their breath? An alligator can easily stay underwater 20-30 minutes, but alligators can slow their heart beat and temperature to allow them to stay under for longer periods (up to 24 hours or longer) if conditions are right.
How many types of alligators are there in the Everglades? Only American alligators reside in the Florida Everglades, and no snowbird alligators as far as we can tell!
Where Do Alligators Live in the Everglades?
The habitat of alligators can vary from region to region in the US, but throughout the Everglades, gators live in just about any available freshwater environment from rivers, ponds, lakes, canals, and of course, the wetlands of the Glades.
They’ve even been known to wander into unfenced swimming pools in well-populated residential neighborhoods.
Technically, most of southwest Florida is in what used to be the Everglades.
So you’ll find alligators everywhere near fresh and brackish water.
If you’re heading to Naples, read our Naples Florida alligator guide for safety tips and where you can see them safely in the area.
Saltwater or Fresh?
Alligators can tolerate some salt water for short periods of time and are sometimes found in brackish water around mangrove swamps.
However, this is usually when food is plentiful (with a good number of prey animals around).
Unlike crocodiles, alligators do not have the glands which remove excess salt from their body, so they instinctively avoid very salty water.
In winter when the Everglades are very dry, gators will burrow to create dens called “alligator holes”.
One benefit of this burrowing is that these unoccupied dens are then used by a variety of animals to shelter from the heat during dry spells.
Out of the over 1.5 million alligators in the state of Florida, approximately 200,000 live in the Everglades.
It may sound like a lot, but their numbers won’t always ensure a sighting when you’re here.
An alligator at Shark Alley Visitor Center
Best Time of Year to See Alligators
So what IS the best time of year to see alligators in the Everglades?
Winter is generally not the best time to see alligators.
This is especially true in south Florida where winter is the dry season.
Gators instinctively are drawn to water and will stop feeding when the water temperature drops below 68°F.
If the temperature drops further to around 55°F they will essentially become dormant, keeping them in place for longer periods to conserve energy.
The best time for more abundant alligator sightings in the Everglades is during the late spring and summer — the wet season in southern Florida — when temperatures rise into the high 80s to 90s.
This is the time of year when gators are most active.
Where to See Alligators in the Everglades
Arguably the most popular way to see alligators in the wild is by taking a guided airboat tour through the Everglades.
Airboat captains know their way around the local waterways, and they know where to find gators from season to season — often nesting females — and will give you more information than you ever thought possible about alligators.
If zipping over the water in an airboat isn’t your thing, take a swamp buggy guided tour, set out on a kayak tour, or take a traditional pole boat tour with a Florida Gladesman.
All of these are great ways to immerse yourself in this one-of-a-kind wilderness and are tons of fun.
Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk
27020 Tamiami Trail E, Naples
Located just 25 minutes from Marco Island, the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk on the Tamiami Trail makes a short but interesting southwest Florida day hike through native forests and wetlands.
An elevated boardwalk runs through the lower part of the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve and is just over a mile long to the end and back.
As you stroll the boardwalk, interesting informational plaques are posted along the way describing the native plant and tree species as well as animals who inhabit the area.
Bring binoculars if you have them — in addition to the the many royal and sabal palms you’ll see thousands of ferns, orchids, bromeliads, and bald cypress, and there are loads of Everglades animals all around, especially birds.
Bard owls, hawks, warblers, and pileated woodpeckers can be seen. There’s also an active eagle’s nest and lots of wading birds.
The last time we were there in April 2021, sadly, we saw a baby python near the boardwalk.
The best place to see alligators at the Big Cypress Bend boardwalk is just before the boardwalk begins in the ponds to the right, and in the pond at the end of the boardwalk where resident gators and an occasional snake like to sun themselves.
HP Williams Roadside Park
12580 Turner River Rd, Ochopee
If your vacation plans bring you to southwest Florida during the dry season a great place to see gators is at HP Williams Roadside Park on Turner River Road in Big Cypress National Preserve.
This is a good day trip from Naples and takes less than an hour to drive the 39 miles. From nearby Marco Island, the Everglades are even closer.
Chances are you’ll see herons, anhingas, egrets, turtles, gar and other fish from the safety of a protected boardwalk along the water.
And we guarantee you’ll see gators!
The park has free parking, shaded picnic tables, and public restrooms.
Shark Valley Visitor Center
36000 SW 8th Street, Miami • Open daily 9am-5pm
While it’s not as close to Naples and Marco Island as HP Williams Roadside Park and Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk, it you’re looking for a longer hike or full day Park experience, Shark Valley is worth the trip.
Take US 41 (Tamiami Trail) approximately 70 miles east to the Shark Valley Visitor Center where you can pick up brochures for the area, check out the educational displays, and watch a short video about the Park.
They also have restrooms and a Gift Store with books, postcards, and other souvenirs.
The Shark Valley Tram Loop
The 15-mile paved loop at Shark Valley (24 km) round trip is one of the best ways to see this part of Everglades National Park, and there are several ways to see it — on foot, a bike, or guided tram tour.
The halfway point on the loop trail is the Shark Valley Observation Tower, the highest accessible elevation by foot within Everglades National Park where you can see for miles on a clear day.
Bike — Start behind the Visitor Center and follow the straight West Road. Along the route, you’ll see wildlife, including alligators, a variety of birds, turtles, and snakes.
Both manual and electric bicycles are allowed on the Shark Valley loop.
Tram - The 2-hour guided tram eco-tour at Shark Valley is in an open, covered tram vehicle, and a good way to explore Everglades National Park if you want a relaxed tour or mobility is an issue.
If you planning on spending the night and camping in the Everglades, Midway Campground is close by Shark Valley and recommended.
How Big Are Alligators in the Everglades?
Female alligators tend to be smaller than males maxing out at approximately 10 feet or so.
But male alligators can reach a length of up to 15 feet!
Depending on the particular eco-niche where they live, the coloring of an adult alligator can range from dark brown and gray, to olive and almost black.
Gators can have up to 80 teeth which are replaced as they wear down or are broken.
This means that throughout its lifespan an alligator can have had between 2,000 to 3,000 teeth.
Don’t get too close to freshwater in south Florida
Will An Alligator Eat Me?
We all have a healthy fear of any predator the size of an alligator, why is why one of the most frequently asked questions is do alligators eat humans?
The short answer to that question is not usually!
Humans are not part of what any alligator regards as prey.
Attacks on humans are rare, but when it does happen, it’s always well publicized making it seem more prevalent than it really is.
Attacks on humans and pets typically happen for the following reasons:
Provocation or harassment — unknowing people getting too close and underestimating how quick alligators can be
Carelessness — trying to hand feed a gator (feeding an alligator is illegal)
Allowing a small child (or pet) to wade or swim in any shallow freshwater where gators may be present
Make no mistake, alligators are quick when exiting the water to attack their prey, but only for about 25 feet.
Alligators are ambush hunters and opportunistic feeders.
Have you ever seen the migration of wildebeest on the Planet Earth series?
While the show features crocodiles, alligators employ the same method of ambushing their prey from the water.
You never know they’re there until they spring out from the water!
What Do Alligators Eat?
An alligator will eat just about anything it can fit in its mouth — small mammals, birds, fish, turtles, snakes, and even other small alligators.
A large adult gator will also eat deer, wild hogs, and yes, even smaller gators.
If a meal is too large to be swallowed when it’s been caught, a gator will go into a spinning “death roll” to drown the prey animal.
Alligators are known for often stowing their prey beneath the water in a downed tree or other structure.
After a few days submerged, the gator returns to feed when the prey is much easier to eat.
Be Cautious
Alligators have keen senses of hearing and smell, excellent night vision, and above the water their vision is about the same as an owl.
If you do sight one basking on the bank in the sun, be smart and don’t take selfies or turn your back on a gator.
In any fresh or brackish water in the Everglades, always assume that there are gators present, even if you don’t see them.
In the many times that we have kayaked in the Glades we have heard them make a loud growling sound or heard one splash as it entered the water, but we’ve only seen them when there’s enough water and the conditions are right.
What to Do if You Come Close to an Alligator
If, on the rare occasion you find yourself face to face with an alligator in the wild, back away quickly but don’t run.
Don’t try and walk behind an alligator as they can turn in the blink of an eye.
American alligator hatchlings
Alligator Mating and Reproduction
Alligators begin mating in the Everglades around mid-April and continue into May.
During this time they are much more aggressive to find a mate and define their territory.
For kayakers gliding through mangrove tunnels and grasslands, these territorial sounds of alligators can be thrilling — or possibly terrifying — when you hear them for the first time.
Male alligators employ a head slap by opening their jaws and lifting their head out of the water.
Snapping their jaws shut as their head slaps against the surface of the water sends out a signal that a territory is being claimed.
The other common alligator sounds during this time include growling, sometimes referred to as bellowing.
These loud throaty sounds are used by males to reinforce their territorial claim and attract a mate.
Hearing it for the first time can be downright terrifying in the quiet backwaters!
Once mated, a female alligator builds a nest from the surrounding vegetation.
They are fairly easy to spot as they’re always near water and are higher than the terrain on which they are built.
Females lay between 20-50 eggs which will incubate for up to 65 days. Much like nesting sea turtles, the temperature in the nest will determine the sex of the hatchlings.
Tempting as it might be to get a closer look, never go near an alligator’s nest.
Females remain close by to aggressively protect the nest and hatchlings.
Interestingly, once hatching is complete and the nest is abandoned several species of turtles will use the alligator nest to incubate their eggs.
Survival of alligator hatchlings is sadly, rather bleak, like many species. Only a small percentage of hatchlings survive.
They are preyed upon by raccoons, herons and egrets, snakes, pythons, large fish, bobcats, and larger alligators.
Once they reach about 4 feet in length, baby gators are relatively safe but can still fall prey to large gators.
Photo: WINK News, Ft. Myers FL
Alligators and Other Species
Burmese Pythons
No other invasive species has impacted the delicate balance of life in the Everglades more than the Burmese python.
First reported in 2000, Burmese pythons were ignorantly released by the exotic pet trade and by owners who no longer wanted such a large powerful snake, and their numbers have since exploded in the Glades.
Found throughout the Everglades, pythons have displaced gators at the top of the food chain, and in places have decimated populations of small mammals and ground nesting birds.
They also prey on small gators, raccoons, opossums, and rabbits and in some areas are outcompeting alligators for food resources.
Do alligators eat pythons? Pythons are a challenge for an alligator to kill, as the snakes can reach lengths of over 18 feet.
These powerful constrictors can easily turn the tables with the alligator becoming the python’s meal.
A python that’s only 10 feet long can easily kill and eat a 4 foot alligator.
Large alligators do eat pythons but the python’s reproductive success has made it daunting for alligators to control the python population. Fortunately, scientist and researches are working hard to bring the python population under control.
To get the public involved, the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission has made it legal to hunt pythons throughout the year without needing a hunting license or permit.
American Crocodiles
The southern part of the Florida Everglades is the only place in the US where alligators and crocodiles naturally co-exist.
There are several distinctions between an American crocodile vs alligator. The first being their looks — alligators and crocodiles look different.
Alligators have a rounded snout versus the pointier snout of the crocodile.
Alligators prefer freshwater while the American crocodile prefers a coastal saltwater habitat.
Because crocodiles are elusive, conflicts between them and humans are rare, but they are still very dangerous especially at night.
The Everglades crocodile has no natural predators other than humans.
Much like other species impacted by human activity resulting in loss of habitat, the success of crocodiles in the Everglades has been greatly impacted.
The National Park Service notes that much of south Florida’s crocodile habitat was lost with the development of the upper Florida Keys.
The restoration of the Everglades ecosystems is helping to stabilize and slowly increase the crocodile population of this species in the wild.
American crocodile
American alligator
Alligator Alley
When visiting southern Florida you’ll often hear a part of I-75 and SR-84 referred to as Alligator Alley.
Have you wondered why it’s so called? We have.
Turns out that the phrase was originally coined by AAA, the American Automobile Association.
During the planning of the road AAA believed the endeavor to build this east to west road would be of no use to cars and nothing more than an “alligator alley”.
Boy, did they get that one wrong!
Hunting Alligators in the Everglades
The picture for gators wasn’t always quite so rosy.
Poaching and loss of essential habitat to human activity put them on the endangered species list in 1967.
Since that time hunting was outlawed for a period of time and due to conservation efforts their numbers have continued to increase.
As of 1987 alligators were no longer listed as an endangered species.
With the establishment of Everglades alligator farms the demand for alligator skin was satisfied taking away the monetary incentive for poaching.
It is illegal to kill wild alligators in Florida, and they can can only be killed if deemed a nuisance by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission or by applying to the Statewide Alligator Harvest Program.
There are however, specific timeframes and areas in Florida where permit holders can hunt alligators but hunters need a license and a permit, and there are strict limits on the controlled harvesting.
***
On your next visit to southwest Florida, take advantage of the season to spot alligators in the Everglades.
How you get to them depends largely on your comfort level.
Whether you choose an airboat guided tour or an Everglades eco tour, experienced guides will show you gators or where you’re most likely to find them.
But be prepared to see them if you want an independent, self-guided hike through the Glades, and know what to do if you do.
On your list of outdoor things to do in southwest Florida be sure to include a visit to the Everglades to see alligators and all the other wonders of this sub-tropical wilderness.
Have you seen alligators in the wild? Where did you see your first gator in the Glades?
Alligators In The Everglades: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know
Planning a vacation to south Florida and want to see alligators in the Everglades? This ultimate guide to Everglades alligators has everything you need to know including where and how to see them in the wild!
Alligators In The Everglades: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know
Planning a vacation to south Florida and want to see alligators in the Everglades? This ultimate guide to Everglades alligators has everything you need to know including where and how to see them in the wild!
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