The Biology of the Crocodilia 15 



Food. The food of the adult alligator consists 

 of fishes, birds, mammals, and possibly smaller 

 individuals of its own species. The young eat 

 small fish, frogs, insects, or worms. 



If the animal be too large to swallow whole it 

 is shaken and torn, the shaking being so vigorous 

 that, according to Ditmars, the entrails of the 

 prey may be thrown to a distance of twenty feet 

 or more. Should two alligators seize the same 

 prey at the same time they whirl about in opposite 

 directions so violently that the prey is torn apart. 

 This action may be illustrated by giving two small 

 captive alligators a piece of tough meat ; they hold 

 on with bulldog tenacity, and each, folding its legs 

 close to its body, will use its tail like a propeller 

 until the animal whirls around with remarkable 

 speed. The commotion that two ten-foot alli- 

 gators would cause when thus struggling can easily 

 be imagined. That a large alligator, if it tried, 

 could easily drag under the water and drown a man 

 or possibly a much larger animal is evident. 



While the alligator has a valve-like fold of skin 

 in its throat that enables it to open its mouth and 

 crush its prey under water, it is said that it must 

 raise its head above water in order to swallow 

 its food. A young alligator on land will usually 

 throw back its head when trying to swallow a 

 large piece of meat, so that it may be simply this 

 motion that brings the head of the alligator above 

 the surface of the water. 



