American alligator
Scientific name: Alligator mississippiensis
- How weight is recorded: Whole weight
Field notes
Appearance
American alligators are large reptiles with dark gray to black coloring, a broad snout, and a heavily armored body covered in thick, keeled scales. Males are notably larger than females, and both sexes display a prominent ridge along the spine and muscular tail comprising roughly half body length.
Size and weight
Adults typically weigh 90–200 kg; large males exceed 250 kg. Body length averages 200–250 cm for females and 250–350 cm for males, with records approaching 450 cm.
Habitat
American alligators inhabit freshwater environments including swamps, marshes, rivers, lakes, and ponds throughout the southeastern United States. They tolerate brackish water but prefer slow-moving freshwater with dense vegetation and adequate depth for basking and nesting.
Distribution
American alligators range from North Carolina to Texas along coastal plains and inland waterways, with the highest concentrations in Florida and Louisiana. They occupy any permanent freshwater system with sufficient size and vegetation.
Diet
Alligators consume fish, crustaceans, turtles, and waterfowl as juveniles; adults take larger prey including nutria, deer, and wild boar when available, with diet shifting seasonally toward abundant forage.
Behaviour
American alligators are primarily crepuscular and nocturnal, most active during dawn, dusk, and night hours. They are solitary hunters that remain relatively sedentary near water, basking on banks to thermoregulate and launching ambush attacks from shallow water margins.
Hunting tips
Look for slide marks along banks, shallow depressions in mud from body resting, and scat (whitish, chalky droppings) near water edges. Approach from downwind using dense vegetation for cover, positioning yourself along banks where alligators bask or hunt at dusk. Remain motionless near shallow margins where prey is concentrated, as sudden movement alerts quarry; glass water edges and overhanging vegetation systematically.
Whole weight
This species is logged by whole weight — the animal weighed entire, as taken.
Where it is hunted
Listed as huntable in 1 country in Huntify.
Names in other languages
- noAlligator
- svAlligator
- daAlligator
- fiAlligaattori
- deAlligator
- frAlligator d'Amérique
- esAligátor americano
- itAlligatore americano
- nlAmerikaanse alligator
- plAligator amerykański
Current language: en
These field notes are general species knowledge, not legal advice. Always check the current seasons, quotas and firearm rules where you hunt.