Alligator Nest

Alright so it looks like just a mess of leaves and twigs: well your half right. But not only decomposing plant material is found in this mound, it also contains eggs. The loving mother alligator uses it's back legs and sometimes mouth to collect and push together this spectacular nest. Alligator eggs, and an occasional turtle egg will be laid in the middle of this mound. It is interesting that turtles will also use the alligator nest to incubate it's eggs along side of the alligator. The decomposition of the leaves keeps the eggs warm and the built up mound keeps the eggs out of the water. This particular nest is one of the largest I have seen yet out in the Florida Everglades. I was a little nervous about the ....... actually I wasn't scared at all. A little fact... The sex ( male or female) of the alligator that will emerge from these eggs is determined by the temperature at which the egg has been incubated at.