Alligator mating season begins in Florida: Here’s what to know

Rachel Tucker
·1 min read
12

Video above: Nearly 500-pound alligator found in Temple Terrace relocated to new home

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida’s alligators will become more active in the coming months as their mating season begins.

The state’s 1.2 million gators will start looking for love this month, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. They typically begin mating in May and June.

Nearly 500-pound alligator found in Temple Terrace relocated to new home

This activity means a greater chance of encountering the massive reptiles. Alligator bites are rare, but residents should keep an eye out while near ponds and waterways or walking their pets.

Female alligators will build a nest and lay about 40 eggs. She’ll have to wait a little over two months to meet her hatchlings in late summer. ‘Mama gators’ are fiercely territorial and will behave more aggressively toward humans who approach their nests and babies.

FWC encourages people to appreciate alligators from a distance and to leave them alone. Feeding alligators is not only illegal in Florida; it will train them to expect food from humans and could make them more likely to approach people.

Aggressive alligators, or those who seem to be too friendly with their human neighbors, face being killed by wildlife officials as a precaution. The FWC has a Nuisance Alligator Hotline you can call if you see a gator that appears to be a threat to people, pets or property, but just keep in mind that it won’t be relocated — it will be killed.

The hotline can be reached at 1-866-FWC-GATOR.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.