Alligators eat many different animals. They eat fish, frogs, snakes, and crabs. They eat turtles, birds, and small mammals. Large alligators also eat pigs, deer, and cattle. Alligators can eat just about any animal that lives in or comes near the water.

Inside an alligator’s strong jaws are up to 80 sharp, cone-shaped teeth. An alligator uses its jaws and teeth to catch prey. With one snap, a large alligator can crush through bones or a turtle shell. But the alligator cannot chew its food. It must swallow its prey whole or tear it into pieces.

An alligator goes through thousands of teeth in a lifetime. Alligators often lose teeth tearing prey. But that’s okay for a young alligator. When one falls out, a new tooth grows in its place. Older alligators don’t regrow as many teeth as young ones do.

Alligators are good hunters because they are so patient. They do not waste energy chasing their meals. They usually wait for food to come to them.

An alligator uses its senses of smell, hearing, and sight to find prey. Then it submerges and swims in for the attack. The alligator strikes so quickly that the prey is caught by surprise.

An alligator strikes in different ways. It may lunge onto the shore to grab an animal. It may leap 5 feet (1.5 meters) into the air to grab birds above. It may sweep its head sideways to grab fish and turtles swimming by.

Alligators don’t use up a lot of energy, so they eat less often than other animals do. Inactive alligators may go several months without eating.

Alligators communicate in many ways. They use body language to send signals. They also use sound and touch.

When alligators use body language, they send signals with their bodies. These signals may be warnings. A large alligator raises its head and slaps its jaw against the water, as if to say “Watch out! I’m stronger than you.” A small alligator submerges to say “Okay, you’re the boss!”

During courtship, alligators also use sound and touch. Both males and females bellow and growl. They rub necks and noses. The male slaps his jaw on the water and blows water bubbles to impress the female. He may do a water dance by shaking his body very quickly. This makes the water jump and “dance” along the alligator’s back. The shaking also makes a sound so low that humans can’t hear it. But the female alligator can.

Alligators are some of the best parents in the reptile world. Mothers guard their nests and help the eggs hatch. And sometimes both parents look after and protect the young.

A female alligator builds a nest on the ground. She uses her mouth to gather plants. She uses her feet and tail to push the plants and soil into a large mound, or pile, about 3 feet (0.9 meter) high and 7 feet (2.1 meters) wide. Then she lays her eggs in a hollow at the top of the mound nest and covers them up.

Alligators do not warm their eggs by sitting on them. They let the nest warm the eggs. As plants in the nest decay, they give off heat. This warms the eggs.

Even though a mother alligator does not sit on her eggs, she is always nearby. She guards the nest to keep away egg-eating animals, other alligators, and people.

About nine weeks after a female alligator lays her eggs, chirping sounds come from the nest. The babies are hatching! But are they males or females? That depends on the temperature of the nest. If a nest stays warm, males hatch. If a nest is cool, females hatch. If the temperature is in-between, both males and females hatch.

When a mother alligator hears chirps, she uncovers the eggs. She picks up the hatchlings with her mouth and carries them to the water. She will also roll any unhatched eggs in her mouth to crack the shells and help the babies hatch.

Hatchlings are about 9 inches (23 centimeters) long. They can swim and catch their own food right away. But they still need protection, so they stay close to their mother. A hatchling may even bask on its mother’s head or back. If a hatchling is in danger, it cries out. This brings the mother right away. Hatchlings may stay with their mothers for a year or more.

Alligators are very large animals. A full-grown male may be more than 12 feet (3.7 meters) long. Animals as big as this have very few enemies. In fact, adult alligators fear only other adult alligators and people. Young alligators, however, have many enemies.

Dangers begin for young alligators even before they hatch. For example, animals such as raccoons and skunks steal and eat the eggs of American alligators. They wait for the mother to leave the nest to swim or to feed. Then they quickly raid the nest.

A hatchling like the one you see here faces many dangers. Foxes, bears, snakes, and birds of prey may snatch up hatchlings for a tasty meal. Young alligators may even have to watch out for larger alligators.

The American alligator is Alligator mississippiensis; the Chinese, A. sinensis. Alligators and caimans make up the alligator family, Alligatoridae.