# Frozen Alligators, Anyone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 25, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405 "2019-01-25T17:37:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/1 "2019-01-25T17:37:59Z")
Sort of a cool (ha) story–18 gators at the Swamp Park in North Carolina showed off their brumation skills when temps dropped below freezing. From the article: \* > [@](#): > > When the alligators at Shallotte River Swamp Park recently found themselves beneath a sheet of ice as temperatures plunged below freezing, they poked their nostrils above the surface so they could get some air…When they get cold, they enter a period of dormancy known as brumation. They slow their metabolism and their breathing, and before the surface ices over they poke their noses out of the water to continue breathing. - [https://wcti12.com/news/local/chilly-gators-poke-heads-above-ice-to-cope-with-bitter-cold](https://wcti12.com/news/local/chilly-gators-poke-heads-above-ice-to-cope-with-bitter-cold) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2019, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/2 "2019-01-25T23:07:02Z")
I do the same thing with the blankets when the house temp dips below 78[sup]o[/sup] at night while I’m sleeping. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2019, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/3 "2019-01-26T01:43:41Z")
Do they need a zamboni to clean up after the ice gators? ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2019, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/4 "2019-01-26T03:27:09Z")
I’ve lived in NC almost 20 years and I’d never heard of this place until now. I’ll have to check it out the next time I am on the coast! That looks really uncomfortable, but I suppose if you are capable of self-inducing a type of torpor it’s not that bad. And at least weather that cold doesn’t tend to last too long here either. It was 61F when I woke up on Thursday morning and I’d been awakened during the night by frogs singing, so I guess just wait a day or two to get the weather you want in this place. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2019, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/5 "2019-01-26T04:50:04Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Do they need a zamboni to clean up after the ice gators? Only in [Louisiana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_IceGators_(SPHL)) ---
**Author:** ![Methyl\_Ethyl\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Methyl\_Ethyl\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Methyl_Ethyl_Death)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2019, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/6 "2019-01-26T05:05:38Z")
Good god, these guys are cold blooded and freezing waters don’t kill them? No wonder they’re still here millions of years later. Us delicate humans don’t stand a chance. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2019, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/7 "2019-01-26T05:21:11Z")
> [@Methyl\_Ethyl\_Death](#): > > Good god, these guys are cold blooded and freezing waters don’t kill them? No wonder they’re still here millions of years later. Us delicate humans don’t stand a chance. Yeah. If I had to do that, you would not want me as a neighbor. I’d be quite cranky. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2019, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/8 "2019-01-26T18:26:18Z")
> [@dogbutler](#): > > Only in [Louisiana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_IceGators_(SPHL)) I’m glad someone besides me remembers the greatest team name ever. (I have no interest in hockey and know nothing else about the team, but the name was perfect.) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/9 "2019-01-26T18:53:11Z")
The Swamp Park Alligators are kind of wimpy compared to the ones at the Colorado Gators Reptile Park that sometimes take to [basking in the snow](http://www.coloradogators.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Colorado-Gators-Gators-in-the-Snow-e1392314291449-1160x550.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2019, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/10 "2019-01-26T21:31:29Z")
Those guys in Colorado almost look like they are smiling. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/11 "2019-01-28T14:14:46Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I do the same thing with the blankets when the house temp dips below 78[sup]o[/sup] at night while I’m sleeping. 😉 78? I thought living in Arizona had made me a low-temp wuss but our winter temperature is 72[sup]o[/sup]. But, yeah, blanket snorkeling is the way to go. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/12 "2019-01-29T00:35:27Z")
I remember pictures of gators with their noses out of the ice from last winter. I was thinking this was news again this year, but the article linked in the OP is from 1/11/2018. Did it get that cold again this year in NC? Still pretty interesting tho. I like the CO gators in the snow! ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/13 "2019-01-29T01:53:45Z")
The story I was reacting to was current, I messed up and linked to an old article in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/14 "2019-01-29T02:00:14Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I remember pictures of gators with their noses out of the ice from last winter. I was thinking this was news again this year, but the article linked in the OP is from 1/11/2018. Did it get that cold again this year in NC? > > Still pretty interesting tho. I like the CO gators in the snow! [Yes, it did](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/01/25/scientists-say-these-frozen-alligators-arent-dead-theyre-still-creeping-people-out/?utm_term=.4ff0c0b6d52d). The first time it happened, the caretaker in the park freaked out - until he found out what was really happening. This year when the same thing happened he just posted pics to Facebook, and [news outlets picked it up again](https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article224946305.html). ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/15 "2019-01-29T02:05:51Z")
Aw, I thought this was going to be about someone serving up frozen alligator meat. Tease. > [@DesertDog](#): > > 78? I thought living in Arizona had made me a low-temp wuss but our winter temperature is 72[sup]o[/sup]. > > But, yeah, blanket snorkeling is the way to go. Dear lord, that’s the temperature in our HOUSE. Outside, it’s a toasty 37 degrees. It’s gonna start going down later tonight – Wednesday we’re dipping below 0. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/16 "2019-01-29T02:20:22Z")
From a postcard from the Colorado Gator Park, another [gator on ice](https://photos.app.goo.gl/y1TFpiN5ziki64Ku8). ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/17 "2019-01-29T03:15:11Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > From a postcard from the Colorado Gator Park, another [gator on ice](https://photos.app.goo.gl/y1TFpiN5ziki64Ku8). Here’s [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRXMWVHYK5o) of one. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/18 "2019-01-29T06:58:26Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > I’m glad someone besides me remembers the greatest team name ever. (I have no interest in hockey and know nothing else about the team, but the name was perfect.) I beg to differ. It has nothing to do with alligators, but the best hockey team ever was clearly the Macon Whoopees in the Southern Hockey League 1973-4 > **[Macon Whoopees (SHL)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macon_Whoopees_(SHL))** > > The Macon Whoopees were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in Macon, Georgia, and played home games at the Macon Coliseum. The Whoopees played in the Southern Hockey League, and were the second professional hockey team in Georgia. The attempt in Macon to expand hockey southward failed, as the team ceased operations before completion of the 1973–74 season. Hockey did not return to Macon until 1996, when the name was revived by the Macon Whoopee in the Central Hockey League. The o Two later teams dropped the final s 1996-2001 in the Central Hockey League and in the East Coast Hockey League in 2001-2 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-alligators-anyone/828405/19 "2019-01-29T12:42:00Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Dear lord, that’s the temperature in our HOUSE. > > Outside, it’s a toasty 37 degrees. It’s gonna start going down later tonight – Wednesday we’re dipping below 0. I meant house as well; sorry I wasn’t clear about that. Our typical winter lows are in the low 40s but it plays footsie with freezing a couple times during the season and about one year in three dips below freezing. A few years ago the low hit the mid 20s three nights running and for six months afterward, the Saturday call-in garden show on the radio was nothing but, “Can I save my [plant] or is it a goner?”