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Resident spots apparent gator in Lake Hickory

Did alligator survive winter or is latest reptile spotted on Lake Hickory a new visitor?

Photo courtesy of Len Mendat

Granite Falls resident Len Mendat snapped this picture of a visitor napping on a log behind his back yard on Lake Hickory on Friday.

DID YOU KNOW?

Type: Reptile

Diet: Carnivore

Average lifespan in the wild: 35 to 50 years

Size: 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.6 m)

Weight: 1,000 pounds (453 kg)

Group name: Congregation

Record: The largest American alligator ever reported was supposedly 19.8 feet (6 meters) long, although there are doubts about the claim.

Protection status: Recovered

SOURCE: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com

American Alligator

The average size for an adult female is just under 3 meters (9.8 feet), while the adult male usually falls between 4 and 4.5 meters (13 to 14.7 feet). American alligators reaching lengths of 5-6 meters (16 to 20 feet) have been reported in the past, but there have been no recent recordings equaling those lengths.

Legs of American alligators are characteristically short, though capable of carrying the animal at a gallop. The front legs have five toes while the back legs have only four. The snout of this alligator species is also distinct, being significantly broader for those in captive, mainly due to a difference in diet.

After hatching, alligators can grow rapidly, especially during the first four years of life, averaging over 1 foot of growth for each year of life. Both sexes reach sexual maturity at around 6 feet in length, however, this occurs earlier in males because they reach this length sooner than females.

One interesting aspect of alligator biology is that even though they don’t hibernate, they undergo periods of dormancy when the weather becomes cold. They may excavate a cave in a waterway and leave a portion of it above water during this time. In areas where water level fluctuates, alligators dig themselves into hollows in the mud, which fill with water. These tunnels are often as long as 65 feet and provide protection during extreme hot or cold weather.

SOURCE: Pajerski, L., B. Schechter and R. Street. 2000. “Alligator mississippiensis” (Online), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed Monday at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Alligator_mississippiensis.html

By Dee Henry | Hickory Daily Record

Published: May 12, 2009

GRANITE FALLS - Len Mendat got a surprise when he went out in his backyard, bordering Lake Hickory on Friday.

What appeared to be an alligator was sunning itself on a log in the lake. Mendat said he went inside to get a camera and got back to the lake to take the photograph.

"And my battery was dead," he said. "But I had another camera, so I went back inside and got it."

The photographs, which Mendat e-mailed to the Hickory Daily Record, dredged up memories of last summer's alligator, or caiman, which visited the lake. It was studied by N.C. Wildlife officials who decided to let the animal be. The idea was the alligator probably would not survive the winter and its cold temperatures, officials said.

As alligators are a protected species, officials couldn't kill it, and releasing it somewhere else or putting into a zoo environment was chancy as it could spread any diseases it may have had to other animals, officials said.

Mendat said he sent his photographs to Blue Ridge Wildlife Control, who planned to contact N.C. Wildlife officials Monday.

Without seeing the photos, Certified Wildlife Biologist Brad Howard, biologist with the private lands in the mountain region of North Carolina, said he couldn't say whether this animal was the same one from last summer.

"But it's not beyond question," Howard said. "We've seen several survive in reservoirs for several years and then they disappear."

Howard said he remembers one that took up residence in the Cabarrus Reservoir near Concord for several years.

Howard adds the practice of people letting loose pet alligators is not an uncommon one, but from Mendat's photographs, this one appears to be a little large to be a recent release.

After seeing the photos, Howard sent an e-mail to the Hickory Daily Record.

"I agree with you for the most part that this animal seems a little larger than the one last year, and I really don't think this is the same gator we saw last year, but it is possible," Howard wrote in his e-mail. "Another issue related to it being the same one from last year, where did it go for the last 10 or so months? We received no reports of that gator past May/early July last year."

Howard admits he thought last year's lake reptile had died during the winter or fallen prey to a thrill-seeking person.

Alligators, Howard said, go into a "winter stage," not a real hibernation where the animal sleeps, but a slowing of bodily functions, in order to survive colder temperatures. The reptiles survive further south because the temperatures get cold enough to induce that "winter stage" for about one month. Here, the temperatures remain colder longer, putting the animal into that stupor-like state for longer periods. Staying in that state for that long, he said, makes it more difficult to get back to normal. If the alligator stays in the state long enough, it just never recovers.

"When they do come out of it, it doesn't have enough energy to recover," he said.

Howard said he has sent the photographs to other experts for identification.

Howard is emphasizing the alligator, regardless of whether it's the same one from last year or not, does not pose a threat to humans, or even small pets.

"These guys live off frogs and things like that," he said.

However, he still cautions people against approaching the animal and feeding it, which tends to domesticate such animals.

"It doesn't pose a threat to anyone unless they grab him, and that would be a really stupid thing to do," he said.