![]() Small alligators like this baby love to bask on logs. ![]() Absence of fresher scat means the log hasn’t been used recently. A baby alligator used this log for basking, as indicated by the accumulation of small, white, crumbly scats. ![]() The diameter of relatively intact scats will tell you whether a small or large animal used that spot. A recently used basking area will have some fresher droppings. Because these spots are used repeatedly, scat tends to accumulate, so look for these collections in sunny spots. Each animal has favorite basking areas and these are easy to find if you can recognize alligator scat. Alligator scat becomes white, chalky, and crumbly when completely dry Basking AreasĪlligators spend a great deal of time basking in the sun. The beige droppings remind me of potatoes and the buff-orange ones remind me of sweet potatoes, so I’ve nicknamed alligator scats “gator taters”. A faded, partially dried alligator scat that’s beginning to crumbleĪ very large scat partially dried and beginning to crumble. Therefore, scat accumulations reflect time spent by the animal in that spot. Hatchlings produce tiny scats.Īlligators do not drop scats strategically for marking purposes the way some mammals do an animal simply deposits one wherever it happens to be when it has to eliminate. An enormous specimen can produce droppings of several inches in diameter. The size of the scat depends on the size of the animal. When completely dry it is white and crumbly. It is brown when fresh and fades to beige, buff, or olive as it dries. Because alligators have powerful digestive juices, you generally do not find hair, bones, or other recognizable remains in the scat. The scat has a unique consistency which makes it hard to confuse with that of any other animal. ScatĪlligators do not urinate: Both feces and nitrogenous waste are excreted through a single opening – the cloaca. Compare this track to the photo of the right hind foot. An alligator’s right hind and right front tracks. Notice the absence of a claw on toe 4 and the substantial webbing between toes 3 and 4. There is substantial webbing between toes 3 and 4, and probably more limited webbing between toes 1 and 2 and between toes 2 and 3. All toes generally point forward, with toe 4 pointing slightly out to the side. That is usually the case.Īlligator hind feet have only four toes, and as with the front feet, only the first three toes have claws. Notice that toe 5 points out to the side and backward. ![]() Compare this to the photo of the right front foot. I’m not sure if there is webbing between toes 1 and 2 because I never got a good look. There is substantial webbing between toes 2 and 3 and between toes 3 and 4, but no webbing between toes 4 and 5. Study the photo of the foot (above) and that of the track (below) to see which toes have claws and which spaces have obvious webbing. Because alligators continue to grow throughout life, an occasional individual may exceed 15 feet in length and have even larger tracks.Īlligator front feet have five toes. Hind tracks measure up to about 8 inches long and 5 and 1/3 inches wide. Front tracks measure up to about 5 inches long and 4 inches wide. Tracksīecause alligators range in size from 9 inch long hatchlings to 15 foot long adults, there is an enormous range in track size. You’ll find a lot more on alligator biology and behavior relevant to camera trapping in the book, but this and my next post will expand on tracks and sign. There wasn’t space in my book for many of my photos so I thought I’d expand on the alligator chapter here. The panther was more of a challenge, but there was plenty of opportunity to study alligator tracks and sign in depth. In fact, it’s abundant in some areas and I got to see this firsthand while exploring the cypress swamps of south Florida a few years ago to track this large reptile, as well as the Florida panther. Once on the brink of extinction, the American alligator, Alligator mississippiensis is now common within its range in the southeastern US. Compare the foot to the track in the next photo. An alligator’s right front foot with toes numbered according to convention established in tracking books.
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