Scales & Tales
with Sophie Mckee
May 2024
Hello everybody, Sophie here with this month's cold-blooded creature, the American crocodile. These are a very rare animal in our part of Florida and really only found in the very southern tip of the state and down through the Keys. Most of you will probably never see one in the wild and I haven't either. The one in the photo was up at the Saint Augustine Alligator Farm and had been there for a very long time. His name is Hershey because of his chocolate brown color and is a big star in their daily feeding program.
Outside of Florida, the American crocodile can be found all over the Caribbean, parts of Mexico, and much of Central and South America, but not in really big numbers anywhere. They are considered a threatened species here in the United States because there are only around 2000 of them in the wild. A few years ago, there were even less because of over hunting and habitat destruction. Their numbers have been increasing and one of the reasons is the warm water from a nuclear power plant built just outside of the Everglades. The constant warm water helps keep them alive through the winters. Crocodiles don't do as well in colder weather like alligators do. That's another reason why we don't see them up here very often.
American crocodiles grow much larger than alligators. The very biggest male crocs can reach 20 feet in length and weigh up to 2000 pounds, but most are a little smaller. It's also easy to tell the two species apart by the shapes of their heads. Alligators have a rounded snout and the crocodiles are a much sharper triangle. Their diets are the same which means they'll pretty much eat anything, including each other sometimes. Full grown crocodiles in Florida usually stick to fish and medium sized mammals like racoons and otters.
American crocs breed in the late fall and early winter and the females start laying their eggs in at the beginning of spring. They build large mounds of mud and vegetation as nests and lay up to 70 eggs. The females are very protective of the nests and will attack any predator that tries to get to the eggs. Once the babies hatch about 6 weeks later, she will help dig them out and take them to the water. She will stay with them and keep protecting them for a few more weeks since the babies are less than a foot long and easy prey. Alligators and crocodiles are the only reptiles that do this. After about a month they are on their own. Like all reptiles, most of the babies won't survive to become adults. If they do, they can live from 50 to 100 years.
American crocodiles almost never attack humans and are actually really shy. In fact, there have only been two attacks every recorded in Florida, and both people survived. One of them just happened back in March at a boat ramp down in the Everglades. There are a lot more of us than there are of them so it's not really the crocs' fault. If you ever are lucky enough to see one from a safe distance in the wild, consider yourself lucky. See you next month with another cold-blooded creature.
Sophie Mckee
Oasis Middle School, Cape Coral