Because this is getting popular and some have voiced safety concerns in the notes (and because Iâd hate for you to think me of me ~your future spouse~ as reckless), I hope you wonât mind me derailing this post to talk a bit about alligator behavior and what Iâm doing here! The noise that I am emulating in the video is my attempt at the contact call of the juvenile American alligator. I am NOT trying to make a distress call, which is what a baby alligator would use to call mom for help, and is a different sound entirely. Instead, contact calls are typically used in communication between juvenile gator siblings that live together in groups called crĂšches. While a mother gator will certainly swim towards a hatchling distress call (up to a certain age) to protect her young, the other babies will typically swim away from the sound, meaning a correctly done contact call shouldnât cause a hostile reaction in a nearby momma gator. That said, everyone with safety concerns is absolutely correct to consider the possible implications for doing contact calls in the wild, and much like performing bird calls in the wild there are ethical considerations that must be taken into account. Iâd love to give my three personal rules for performing this call!
1. If your feet are on dirt, grass, or water, do not attempt a contact call. If you watch till the end of my video youâll see a shadow that shows I am standing on a raised boardwalk with a rail, which is the optimal situation for safely observing gators. This way even if you somehow do make a sound that attracts an aggressive alligator, you are not at risk of a dangerous encounter.
2. If the alligator is less than 2 feet in length, do not attempt a contact call. While I did say âbabyâ in the original post, a better word for this animal would be juvenile, as their length and head shape indicates theyâve reached at least a year or two in age. You should absolutely never make any kind of noise to intentionally disturb hatchling gators that are small and highly vulnerable to predators! Once a gator has gotten to about 2 feet in length theyâre usually around 2-3 years old and have typically left mom at this age.
3. If you are planning on interacting with the alligator in any way, do not attempt a contact call. It is imperative to both our safety and alligator wellbeing that we do not condition them to seek human behavior by feeding them. I once saw a tour guide call over gators using this method so that he could feed them cocktail shrimp for the delight of tourists. Shouldnât have to say it but donât do this! Donât feed them, donât touch them, and donât get within 20 feet of them, for everyoneâs safety. Wildlife is wild and should stay that way.
I probably should have spelled all that out in my original post so please forgive me the omission! Keep gatoring on everyone đ
(Interested readers may refer to my tags for additional information on the contact calls and alligator behavior described here!)
prguitarman
origamiaround
snowghoul
vaporwave
blakekathryn
stormborns
izzy806
