Give nesting alligators room

Season requires some extra care

Keeping your distance from full-grown alligators is always an excellent idea, particularly now.

It’s nesting season, when female alligators are guarding clutches of eggs against predators such as raccoons, opossums, feral hogs, bears and the occasional human being crashing through the swamp.

“This is the time of year when female American alligators begin defending their nests,” Everglades National Park warned on its Facebook page. “Make sure to give alligators their space (minimum 15 feet).”

During nesting season, which lasts through July, female alligators build nests of dirt, sticks and vegetation 2 or 3 feet high and 3 to 4 feet wide. In South Florida, these nests typically contain 25 eggs, although the number can be as high as 50, said Mark Parry, a park alligator specialist. Eggs hatch in August and September.

The female’s defensive behavior is understandable. About a third of alligator nests are destroyed by predators, mainly raccoons, or flooding, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. In addition to native predators, the tegu lizard, an invader from South America that has become established in the Homestead area, may also be a threat, Parry said.

Although it’s a good idea to avoid any nests or alligators, Harry Dutton, coordinator of Florida’s alligator management program, said the state’s biologists who collect eggs every year rarely encounter problems.

“We collect nearly 1,500 nests every year and only