Photo credit: Pandiyan
When I was ten-years-old it was possible to wander into K-Mart, do a little shopping, and then walk out the front door carrying a brown paper sack containing a live alligator.
I’m not referring to an alligator-style lizard, or some kind of toy; but an actual, living, breathing baby alligator that would eventually grow to roughly the same dimensions as a small nuclear submarine and be capable of swallowing live chickens the size of basketballs.
Now days, K-Mart doesn’t even sell live pets, but back then they had a pretty exotic pet department: African frogs, hairy tarantulas, boa constrictors—even scorpions!—and they must’ve had at least fifty gator hatchlings climbing all over each other. To this day I remember what a bargain they were: only $1.50 each! The only thing that kept me from buying one right then and there was the sign on the aquarium that read “Must be 18 to purchase.”
I recall running home and suggesting to my mom that we hurry back and buy one before they were all gone, but, for some reason, she didn’t share my enthusiasm and refused. I was crushed. There went my dreams of feeding it until it was big enough for me to ride to school where I’d have it rip the arms off of bullies like Carl Klugman who, on one occasion, stuck two extremely sexually-active hamsters down my pants.
Although I never got to have a pet gator, plenty of other kids did. After I grew up and gained enough sanity to realize an alligator may not be the greatest pet choice, I often wondered what people did when their gator, which can grow up to 18-feet long, became a real problem. For instance, let’s say it’s Thanksgiving and the turkey is coming out of the oven—it smells terrific!—but then your pet alligator, Uncle Albert, attracted by the scent, waddles into the kitchen and roars. What would you do?
My guess is that Uncle Albert is going to have a very nice meal while you, and all your relatives, are forced to sit around the dining table and listen to your rumbling stomachs.
I should be thankful that my mom wouldn’t let me get one; I’d probably still have it—and, I just learned that alligators can live up to 70 years in captivity!
Here are some interesting facts about alligators:
- Adults can survive more than two years without eating.
- An average alligator lives to about 40-years-old, but one held in captivity lived to be over 100.
- They can stay submerged under water for up to 2 hours (in very cold water they can stay under for as much as 8 hours!)
- An alligator can only exert itself for 30 minutes before it becomes completely exhausted and will need several hours to recover.
- Their eggs respond to temperature. If they are kept at a temperature in the low 80’s (degrees) they will all develop into females; if the eggs are kept in the low 90’s, they will all develop into males; in-between temperatures produce a mixture of males and females.
Some people, such as those living in Florida and Louisiana, choose to live right in the thick of Gator Country where alligators have been known to wander the streets and periodically visit grocery stores. During my recent trip to Orlando, I was watching for gators, but the only one I saw was the animatronics version I saw on Disney’s Jungle Cruse ride. He appeared menacing and snapped his jaw.
