Gia and Bob are in Bob’s backyard on a cold winter afternoon talking all about alligators. Alligators are a great American success story. Thanks to Christina Zorn for the great research! This episode is part of our Keystone Species series.
Keystone Species series episodes: Firefighting Beavers
Our sources for this episode include:
- Definition of Alligator
- Alligator Biology and Behavior
- JW Lang and HV Andrews, J Exp Zoology (1994) Temperature-dependent sex determination in crocodilians.
- Cramp Meyer Sparks and Franklin. (2008) Functional and morphological plasticity of crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) salt glands. Journal of Experimental Biology 2008 211: 1482-1489; doi: 10.1242/jeb.015636. https://jeb.biologists.org/content/ 211/9/1482
- American Alligator from National Geographic
- Crocodilian Biology Database
Hi Bob and Gia. I am a native Floridian, and really enjoyed the podcast about alligators! There is so much to learn about the wildlife of Florida.
Many of us are worried about our constantly shrinking wild spaces, so it’s always great to hear a podcast about one of our native species.
As far as your question about a podcast about wolves or woodpeckers as keystone species, I would pick woodpeckers. I will also go back and listen to your previous podcasts on the subject. You should also do wolves for another podcast.
Sounds like doing both is a good idea! I really love Florida and am amazed at the variety of wildlife habits you have.
Great podcast! Very insightful and informative. Wonderful job Bob and Gia!
Thanks! We are having a blast doing these. It is nice to know you appreciate the effort.
Hi! I’d love to hear a podcast about woodpeckers. I’ve been spotting a lot of them during my quarantine walks out on Long Island. They’re so easy to spot, it’s great.
Looks like woodpeckers is winning so far!
Hello Nature Guys. Thank you for your wonderful podcast. I too have told my two friends about it and I appreciated the opportunity to contribute to Imago as a small token of my appreciation for your work. I vote for woodpeckers in W vs W. Wolves are great too, but I am slightly more likely to see woodpeckers here in Maryland and I would love to learn more about the differences between the 7 species that I see and hear. You asked for comments in the latest episode, so I will say that I enjoy when you take a second to quiz. I know the other host bears the brunt of it and I feel for them, but I appreciate the chance to step back and test myself. Maybe you could throw in a bird song quiz every so often.
Thanks so much for telling your “2” friends! Thanks for voting for woodpeckers. We don’t see many wolves in my neighborhood either!
Would love to hear about woodpeckers. We have quite a few but we miss the red headed woodpecker. Haven’t seen one here for years. And have never heard much about them. Wolves. We hear about them all the time.
Red Headed woodpeckers are so beautiful! I have never seen one at my house but I have seen them east of here.
I vote for woodpeckers. I used to listen for them while walking through the woods.
They are very cool birds and it is nice to hear them while walking in the woods.
Great Alligator Podcast. As much as I love Wolves… I vote WOODPECKERS for the W v. W poll. Me and my 3yo and 5yo have seen quite a few recently here in New England. It will be a great episode.
Side Question: Bob do you have an email address I can send other requests or comments/questions to?
Much appreciated. Keep up the Fantastic work!
Ryan
Thanks for your woodpecker vote! You can reach me via email at bob@natureguys.org.
Hi Bob,
I enjoyed listening to your podcast about Alligators. They are definitely an “interesting” species. Being a Floridian I wanted to take a minute and bring a couple of things to your attention. While alligators are an important species to the ecosystem (especially here in Florida), they can also be slightly “problematic” and somewhat of a nuisance here in the sunshine state. Recently there have been a couple of instances where alligators have caused quite a stir; I don’t know if you ever heard this story, however in 2016, a child was taken by an alligator in the Seven Seas Lagoon on Disney property in Orlando. This attack was “considered a predatory event rather than one provoked by human behavior” and resulted in the death of a 2 year old boy. Additional information can be found here: https://www.cnn.com/2016/08/22/us/orlando-disney-gator-attack/index.html. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Florida averages seven unprovoked alligator attacks each year, however this number has been on the rise likely due to urban sprawl .
Additionally, every year (or even more frequently), Floridians hear about alligators attacking family pets. One of the more notable events happened last year when a man jumped into a pond to save his dog from an alligator. Video and story can be found here: https://www.wlwt.com/article/caught-on-video-man-saves-his-dog-from-alligator/34747509#
Needless to say, while I understand that alligators are a keystone species and important to the ecosystem, I personally, am not a fan of them. Florida holds a statewide alligator hunting season which runs from August 15 – November 1. During this season, 7000 permits are issued which allows the taking of two alligators per permit in the attempt to help reduce the number of gators and keep the population in check. More information here: https://myfwc.com/license/limited-entry/statewide-alligator-hunt-permit/
My apologies for the long winded comment, however I thought it was important to point out that while alligators may be one of “America’s success stories”, they are not as glamorous as some make them out to be.
I hope you found this information helpful and interesting. I love your podcast and the information that you share. Please keep up the great work. Oh, and lastly, my vote is for Woodpeckers!!
Enjoy your day.
Ken
Ken I really appreciate your taking the time to provide your perspective. I especially link the links you put in so we can easily accesss the information!
I vote for wolves. I’m very interested in their social interactions and family units. Thanks. Love your podcasts.
Thanks for your vote Pamela. I agree the social interactions are really interesting!
I really enjoyed the episode on Alligators, along with all your other episodes! My vote is also for woodpeckers. We see them often around our home in MA. One in particular last summer would peck on the side of our house multiple evenings a week. We couldn’t figure out why or how to deter him, so I’m interested to learn more about their behaviors. Keep up the great work!
Woodpeckers are fascinating to me as well. You can count on at least one episode this year!
Woodpeckers are one of my favorite birds! I would definitely like to learn more, and I love the idea of a keystone species trilogy.
The credit all goes to my amazing co-host Gia! I can’t wait to talk woodpeckers with her.
I vote for woodpeckers because I see so many in the Cincinnati area. However, I would also be interested in learning more about wolves. Thank you for all of the outstanding programming you have pulled together on The Nature Guys. Bill would be so pleased & Rob M would say you’re “pretty darn good”. Thanks a bunch!
Thanks for you vote and the kind words! I was just thinking of Bill and Rob today. I miss both of them and it is nice to know you think they would be pleased.
Your podcast has been such a bright spot in the world since I discovered a year or so ago. I look forward to every episode. The information is presented in a manner that is completely accessible to every age group and education level. Not an easy accomplishment. Keep up the good work.
How about some wolf stuff. Love those guys.
I am so glad that Nature Guys has been a bright spot in the world! Much to my surprise the woodpeckers have a big lead in the voting! We are working on wolves. They are such an important species that we just have to tell their story.
I might be late to the vote but I’m voting for wolves! (yes I know the woodpeckers votes exceed the wolf votes!) I’ve been reading lately about the wolves on Isle Royale here in Michigan. It is the longest running predator prey study in the U.S. and has taken a lot of interesting turns including relocating new wolves to the island to continue the study (and keep the moose population under control) However, I do like woodpeckers. I saw a pileated at my house yesterday for the first time!! I also saw a meme about an “acorn woodpecker” that collects acorns. Is that real? (I don’t trust the social media much! LOL!) Anyway, I very much enjoy your podcast as I am missing guiding my own nature hikes a lot these days!
We are going to do both Acorn Woodpeckers and Wolves! So yes Acorn Woodpeckers are real.