CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina’s famous “alligators on ice” have thawed out of their frozen pond, now that temperatures are above freezing.
A North Carolina park has posted video of alligators in a frozen NC river to help show people how the reptiles are surviving the winter storm that just came through the Carolinas.
The folks at Shallotte River Swamp Park used a series of Facebook posts to show the public how these reptiles survive the frosty conditions. The videos show the park’s rescued alligators with their nostrils poking through the ice.
The cold-blooded reptiles cannot generate their own body heat, but they do regulate it by changing their environment. Alligators often lie in the sun to warm themselves.
They even have a plan to survive freezing conditions.
Alligators have been known to rise to the surface if the water is about to freeze, with their nostrils above the surface. This allows them to breathe through the ice as it forms.
In extreme cases, they get frozen into the surface of the pond for several days and then swim free when the ice melts
A person narrating the park’s video stated that the alligators seem to be doing well. The park’s rescued alligators previously have been in captivity and can no longer go back in the wild.
