The ultimate guide to understanding the biology and behavior of the amazing and underappreciated American alligator. Few scenes put the senses on edge more than a submerged alligator, only eyes and snout showing, when peering across a southern lake on a misty morning. An iconic American predator, these reptiles grow to thirteen feet or more and can live as long as humans. Alligators are complex creatures, capable of terrific attacks and yet tending to their young in the same gentle way a mother duck looks after her brood. Once extremely numerous, alligators came close to extinction in the twentieth century, but thanks to conservation efforts have since made a comeback, reclaiming their rightful place as the monarchs of the southern wetlands. In this fascinating account, richly illustrated with more than 150 photographs from award-winning wildlife photographer Wayne Lynch, expert zoologist Kent A. Vliet introduces readers to the biology, ecology, and natural history of the American alligator. Sharing nuanced depictions of their hidden lives that will forever change the way you think of these giant reptiles, the book • combines captivating storytelling with the most current scientific facts • chronicles the life cycle of the alligator • explains why the alligator's precise anatomy and physiology make it so successful • covers a wide range of topics, from courtship and reproduction to communication, basking, nest-building, and hunting • reveals the alligator's sophisticated social life in detail • evaluates the alligator's environmental role as a keystone species • examines the complicated relationship between alligators and people

Describes the physical characteristics and behavior of various species of alligators and crocodiles from around the world.

Frank eats muesli for breakfast, Celeste eats tea and toast in bed, Nicky has a banana, Rosie likes eggs and bacon, Tessa eats a sausage, Ernie has porridge, but Clive eats alligators A picturebook of children who all dare to be different in their own special way.

The dinosaurs were outlived by crocodile-like predators. today, their descendants are found on five continents. These animals are strange and wonderful indeed.

A pair of eyes lurks just above the water's surface. Is it a crocodile or an alligator? Packed with beautiful and engaging photos, kids will learn all about these two reptiles--and find out what makes them different. This level 2 reader provides both accessible and wide-ranging text to encourage the scientists and explorers of tomorrow!

Found only in the United States, the American alligator ranges in Texas through 120 counties, from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande, across a swath of river drainages and coastal marshes that include both the backwater swamps of the Big Thicket and the urban bayous of greater Houston. From its beginning in a pile of eggs buried in a meticulously constructed nest to its possible end as an alligator burger or a pair of boots, an alligator’s habitat preferences sometimes coincide with the favorite haunts of boaters, hunters, and coastal residents. In Alligators of Texas, biologist Louise Hayes and photographer Philippe Henry bring readers up close to this cryptic reptile’s food choices, parenting skills, communication techniques, and responses to natural events such as freezes and hurricanes. They also relate some Texas “alligator tales”; discuss alligator farming, hunting, and live capturing; and examine how people can successfully co-exist with this predator. They end by telling readers where they can view alligators, both in the wild and in captivity. Although not as often, as easily, or perhaps as happily observed as white-tailed deer or armadillos, the American alligator is an iconic Texas animal, and knowing more about its life and habits can help Texans better understand its rightful place in the landscape.

A daily motivator for people who write--and for all those who long to write--providing an insistent wake-up call for the creative urge, with insights on how to work against resistance, live with the loneliness, develop discipline, and dare to take deeper risks in their work.

Bestiary of Corona Animals is an essay that illuminates the causal relations between the human tendency to objectify the world, the continuous expansion of extractive activity, the trace effects of the current climate regime, and the outbreak of the current coronavirus pandemic. These seemingly distinct phenomena, often analyzed and discussed separately, in fact share the same roots. The text introduces a cast of different animals, both fictional and tangibly real, whose personal opinions and experiences—informed by animal rights and ethics, biopower, geopolitics, and necropolitics—give credence to the hypothesis that the human colonization of the natural territory of the virus enabled the pandemic to spread in the first place. These animal voices seek for a type of worlding that provides an equal footing for humans and non-humans, starting by exchanging self-interest for empathic non-understanding and selfless reciprocity: from the isolation of thinking and acting in a vacuum, to a world continuum.

Everyone needs hugs and love in this offbeat, upbeat ode to the not-so-cuddly--and yet still sweet and beloved! Despite their lumpy, bumpy hide, toothy mouths stretched open wide, just like me and just like you, crocodiles need kisses too. Fun-to-read-aloud, rhyming text describes prickly porcupines, roaring tigers, and slithery snakes--not the most cuddly creatures, but still worthy of hugs and snuggles from their mamas! With a luscious and colorful palette, Crocodiles Need Kisses Too shows that animals (and children) don't have to be warm and fuzzy to be totally lovable.