Zoo Buddy: Alligators!

MONROE, La. (KNOE) - Meet this baby alligator at the Louisiana Purchase Gardens & Zoo!

Alligators begin hatching out of the nest at this time of year. Lisa Taylor, general curator, got to show off one of the American alligator babies.

“They have black and yellow stripes on them to help them camouflage in the wild because, believe it or not, these guys can be eaten by just about anything - raccoons they like to catch them and eat them, blue herons, the big birds out there, opossums will actually grab these guys, other alligators will eat these guys,” said Taylor.

But here at the zoo, this two year old baby is used to teach people about the species.

“When these guys hatch out of the egg, they’re about seven inches long and they’re probably no bigger around than your pinky and the mom protects them and she actually produces, each one of them have a little pheromone on them, and it’s like a chemical that the mom recognizes and she’ll open her mouth and all the babies will swim in there and she’ll swim to wherever she feels like they are good to get out and swim around,” says Taylor.

That lasts for about the first year of their life according to Taylor. She said gators grow about 12 inches a year.

You can check out the Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo every day of the week, from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. This small guy is not on display yet but he is in the education department so you can request to see him through a birthday party or educational program.

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