National Geographic: Realm of the Alligator Page #2

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and at least in old animals like these

the head weighs so much

that is just tends to flatten itself out

over the years.

It spreads out and becomes much broader

Is that what squeezes the teeth out too

Yeah...

because they're all showing

very obviously here?

They're very toothy animals

Also all the scales on their back

are worn down...

much more so than

a wild animal would be.

And that's just because these animals

live in very high densities on farms,

and they crawl over each other.

they just kind of buff each other

down all the time.

Since 1981 Kent Vliet has made

a detailed study

of alligator behavior

in the mating season

from April into June.

But Kent was not happy

with his original vantage point.

It was secure, but didn't provide

an accurate water-level view.

He decided to enter the lake

a procedure not without certain risks.

It is possible, when you're in the lake

that a big male will decide

he doesn't want you there

and actually come up and try

to get you out of his territory.

We've had very few problems

when I was swimming in the lake,

but there's always the potential for

an alligator getting hold of you

and doing some real damage.

Kent has found that alligators here

at the farm are fairly harmless

especially during mating season.

And, to increase his knowledge,

he puts this opinion to

a highly meaningful test.

We learned early on in our research

that we needed to get off

the boardwalks

and go down and look at alligators

at an alligator's eye level.

Alligators communicate to

each other visually by the way

they hold their bodies

out of the water.

And we got down into the water

to better understand

how alligators are talking

to each other in a visual sense.

Kent has taken a lot of kidding

about being up to his eyebrows

in alligators and "seeing eye to eye"

with his study subjects.

But he feels that because he can

understand an alligator's body language

he can ward off trouble before

it becomes a real threat.

I look for animals that are obviously

directing themselves toward me

as aggressive animals.

The way they tilt their head

and how high they hold their body

out of the water

are all indications

if they're being aggressive or not.

Not all the animals that come

towards me are aggressive.

Many are curious, but I still have

to treat them all about the same.

I can't let them get too close to me.

I carry a large, about five-foot-long

cypress pole with me,

And if an animal does get too close,

I just nudge it away and try to

keep it out of strike range.

The meaning, if any, of an alligator's

impressive yawn is not understood;

But other behavior like this

head-slapping display

has been deciphered.

It is an assertive gesture,

advertising an alligator's

social position.

In courtship season

the alligators stage

"bellowing choruses" almost daily.

Both sexes bellow, but they

make somewhat different sounds.

Just before a male bellows,

he produces subsonic signals that make

the water around him dance.

In the wild these signals may

dram females from a great distance.

Courtship is a quiet and oddly tender

process

that Kent has sometimes been able

to witness at close quarters.

Courtship is usually initiated by one

animal swimming slowly up to another.

And this is a very important stage

of courtship

because they have to communicate

to each animal that they

have non-aggressive intentions.

And secondly,

they go into a period of touching one

another along the face and neck.

And they really orient to each

other's head and neck.

in the third phase of courtship these

touching behaviors

become more exaggerated

and the animals start pressing

each other down under water.

And these are real tests of strength

between the two animals.

And these will be accentuated until one

animal is capable of pressing the other

under water

and ultimately circle around

and mount on that animal

and begin riding it around

and ultimately roll over to one side

and attempt to mate with that animal.

However they behave,

alligators have reproduced quite

successfully in Okefenokee.

Here, until the 1970s

they were badly hit by poachers.

Now, stiff laws protect a population

that has grown to about 12,000.

In summer, bubbling gases are like

the heartbeat of Okefenokee.

Beneath the dark waters

is a thick layer

of decomposing vegetation called peat.

The gases it creates sometimes

lift large patches

of peat to float on the surface.

Old-timers called this a 'blow-up'.

Over time, the floating mats of peat

are covered with vegetation.

Some sink again, but others become

floating islands

and eventually support bushes

and even trees.

Ultimately, the trees take root

and new land is created

small wooded islands

known locally as houses.

Okefenokee is an Indian word that means

'land of the trembling earth'

John Paling shows how fitting

the name is

when he lands on a

young floating island.

I actually enjoy walking on

"trembling earth", if I admit it.

It's one of these strange experiences

like walking on a bowl of jelly.

The waters of Okefenokee

are highly acid,

about as acidic as strong tea

and much the same color.

Conditions favor the growth

of insect-eating plants

that are found here in great variety.

This pitcher plant lures insects to

its hollow tubular leaf with nectar.

Once inside, few insects escape.

They're fooled by light

from the translucent windows

that line the back of the tube.

They exhaust themselves trying

to get out.

Eventually the insects fall

to the bottom of the tube.

There they are dissolved by acid

secretions and the plant absorbs them.

Another deadly attraction is the sundew

Its leaves are adorned

with brightly colored stalks

tipped with shiny droplets

apparently a sweet meal

for passing insects.

But hungry insects soon

become entangled.

Escape is impossible when the plant

finally closes to digest its victim.

Along the edges of islands

and in shallow marshes

insects are snared

in such deadly traps.

When it's all over,

there will be nothing left of them

except their indigestible husks.

As night falls Okefenokee's gloom

and its grandeur deepen.

One hundred million years ago

the alligator's ancestors thrived

in prehistoric swamps.

As far as we know, they looked much

as they do today.

The eyes of the alligator

are highly reflective.

They shine with an eerie glow

in the night.

John Paling and Kent Vliet conduct

a nighttime search for baby alligators

Disturbing alligators here in

the refuge is strictly outlawed.

Even scientists like Vliet need

special permission just to touch one.

Let's cut off the engine for a minute

and get some peace. Okay.

Wow! That makes a difference,

doesn't it?

Let's pole from here.

It's beautiful in here.

Nice and quiet without that outboard.

Sure thing.

Do you see any gators yet, or not?

I haven't seen any

in this small stretch here.

I'll just flash the light around there

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