Excerpt
On a late August evening, Adora hatched from the safety of a three foot high, 10
foot wide nest made of marsh vegetation. Along with her 40 brothers and sisters,
she used her “egg tooth” to slit an opening in her egg just wide enough to allow her
head to pop out. Instinctively, Adora began chirping. Mother gator arrived as
quickly as her 8 foot long body would allow and used her sharp teeth to help Adora
from the hard shell that remained. Adora left the safety of her nest and crawled
into her mother’s open, awaiting mouth, as all baby gators do.
Only 8 inches long, Adora fit easily into her mother’s mouth. She, along with
many of the jostling hatchlings, were carried gently to the safety of the dark,
swampy water. Within minutes, Adora’s instincts told her to snap up the insects
swarming above the water in which she swam. First, these young hatchlings will
feed off of insects, shrimp, tadpoles, and frogs. As they grow, they will begin to
eat larger fish, turtles, snakes, and small mammals.