FREE PRESS (Detroit, Michigan) 11 January 07 Five Things: About gators (Alex Cruden)
With their victory over Ohio State on Monday, the Gators of the University of Florida are reigning national champions in college football and basketball. So let's look into alligators (carefully).
Not A Croc
Alligators differ slightly from crocodiles, mostly in the snout and mouth. Generally speaking, gators are in the United States; Africa has many crocodiles.
Alligators can grow to be about 19 feet long. They were hunted to near-extinction in the United States. Under legal protections they have made a comeback, but ones found these days are usually about 6-8 feet, sometimes up to 12.
Yum
Although it doesn't happen often, an alligator can eat you and you can eat an alligator. The latter situation usually occurs at restaurants specializing in wild game, and with only the tastiest parts.
Like many predators, alligators usually go for what's easiest. Something small, slow and near the water is more likely to be eaten than you running fast away from the pond.
Authentic
The University of Florida campus in Gainesville does have alligators in its lake. That may give its teams an incentive over near-invisible Wolverines.
And -- yes -- the university is the birthplace of Gatorade, developed in the early 1960s. (It does not contain actual gator parts.)
Entertaining
Louisiana jazzman King Oliver's "Alligator Crawl" was recorded in 1922 and "Alligator Hop" in '23, according to "A Social History of the American Alligator" by Vaughn L. Glasgow.
The mid-'50s hit "See You Later, Alligator" was by Robert Guidry, also from Louisiana, who recorded it as Bobby Charles. Many others sang it as well, and the title became a catchphrase.
"A Social History..." also tracks movie appearances, including the 1980 film "Alligator," which stars 36-foot-long Ramone, who lived in a sewer (completely fulfilling an urban tale).
Michigan Angles
Growlin' Gator Lager, which was marketed as "the beer with a bite -- favorite of lounge lizards everywhere," was brewed in Florida but developed by Bill Burrer of Michigan, according to "A Social History of the American Alligator."
Free Press files show 1957 was a big year locally for alligators. In March, a man entered the Bagley Café with a 30-pound gator under his arm, set it loose on the dance floor, had a couple of drinks and left without it, telling the bar owner, "You don't have to feed him for a while. I gave him a rabbit last week."
In July, an alligator was found in Lower Long Lake, and in August one in Susan Lake just off Dixie Highway. Experts speculated they had escaped from a haven north of Pontiac.
Also in August, a Wayne County sheriff's deputy stopped a 23-year-old driver who was holding a 32-inch alligator out the window. He told the deputy, "I found him. ... I'm taking this alligator home."
Five Things: About gators