Each month Trail Manager, Emily Galka, highlights flora and fauna that she observes in the Goethe State Forest that surrounds the Black Prong Resort. Goethe State Forest Species of the Month: American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
Each month Trail Manager, Emily Galka, highlights flora and fauna that she observes in the Goethe State Forest that surrounds the Black Prong Resort.
When I moved down to Florida a year ago, (how has it already been a year?!) I was so excited to get back into guiding that it never occurred to me that I might meet some reptilian friends on the trail unlike any I ever encountered in Michigan. I quickly realized that not only are there gators in the Goethe, but spring time is the courting season!
The American alligator looks for love in April and May and eventually lays eggs in June or July in a nest near the water. Baby alligators experience temperature dependent sex determination meaning that egg incubation temperature influences the development of young alligators. The brood will be predominantly male if the nest temperature reaches 91°F or higher whereas if the temperatures are around 86°F or lower, they tend to yield all females. Alligators have a maternal instinct and they not only guard their nests but have also been known to protect young gaters from other hungry adults. Young alligators grow about a foot every year until they are about 6-7ft long. They will continue to grow after that but at a slower rate. The largest recorded alligator in Florida was over 14ft long!
I’ve found that alligators in the Goethe are most active immediately after a heavy rain or hurricane and otherwise stick to larger, permanent bodies of water farther from the trail. However a young gator has taken up residency in a small swamp near Black Prong. While the swamp is also habitat to plenty of frogs, I think there will come a time where our resort mascot will need to find a body of water that supports a bigger food supply. Until then, you can catch me saying hello as I drive by!
Emily Galka (shown with her horse Lisa) is Black Prong’s Trail Riding Manager and resident naturalist.
