Alligators - History

On the verge of extinction just a few
decades ago, alligators can now be
found from North Carolina south to
Florida and west to Texas.

Although the largest recorded in
modern times was a Louisiana
alligator measured at 19 feet 2 inches,
they are now rarely seen at lengths of
above 10 feet. Centuries ago,
however, there are strong indications
that they may have grown to extremely
large sizes.

The French artist Jacques LeMoyne,
for example, produced images
showing Native Americans in East
Florida battling and killing huge
alligators during the 1500s.

The naturalist William Bartram, writing
in 1791, included this note:

I have seen them twenty feet in length,
and some are supposed to be twenty-
two or twenty-three feet. Their body is
as large as a horse....

Alligators, in fact, have only one natural
enemy, humans. From the earliest
days of the settlement of the South,
human beings alternately marveled at
and killed alligators. There were
multiple reasons for this. The meat of
the alligator tail is quite a delicacy and
was often the only meat available. It is
commonly deep fried and can be
purchased in restaurants across the
South today. In turn, alligators
developed an appetite for farm
animals, making them natural
enemies of early settlers.

Despite this ongoing war with man, they
survived and flourished until the introduction
of the pesticide DDT almost destroyed them
for good. Applied across much of the South
in the battle against the spread of fire ants,
the chemical also caused widespread
losses of birds and reptiles by weakening
the shells of their eggs. This reduced
birthrates dramatically and alligators almost
disappeared overnight.

Aggressive conservation efforts, however,
have allowed them to stage a remarkable
comeback and they can once again be seen
across virtually every corner of the South.

Although they have long been common
fixtures in zoos and wildlife parks, alligators
can now easily be seen in their natural
habitat as well. Among the best and easiest
places to see them are Everglades National
Park and Wakulla Springs in Florida and the
Okefenokee Swamp Park in Georgia.