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. 
