Now that is one smart alligator.
There are a lot of smart creatures out there in the animal kingdom, and in case you didn’t know, one of them is the alligator. Despite having a brain the size of a walnut, they have more than a few tricks up their sleeve. With as long as they’ve roamed the Earth, you would hope they would catch onto a couple of things after a while, right?
One of the ways we know that alligators, and crocodiles, are smart is because they’ve showcased the art of tool use. Both gators and crocodiles have been known to utilize twigs to lure in birds, and the video below is quite possibly the best example that’s ever been captured on camera.
Now, I say that alligators smart, but that doesn’t always mean that they try all that hard all of the time. The scaly reptiles can also be opportunistic, like the one in this terrifying video of a gator emerging from the darkness to drag a road-kill-fish (confusing, I know) back into its pond.
There’s nothing wrong with it doing it that way, though I’d argue it’s a tad more interesting to watch a more clever alligator in action. The one in this video below was lurking around the Florida Everglades trying to figure out how it could turn a bird into a snack, and eventually came up with an idea.
Gators within the water we’re keeping their eyes on some egrets, a long-legged white bird that can commonly be found in groups in South Florida. They tend to hang out near the water, and even hunt small fish, but do their best to stay out of harm’s way (A.K.A. an alligator’s mouth).
However, one task that can put the egrets in danger is nest building. The bright white birds tend to search the surface of the water for small, malleable twigs, diving down to pick them up and returning to their nests to add to their pile of building supplies.
Alligators take note of this practice, which is why those near the gator-infested waters will sometimes see the reptiles swimming just underneath the water while balancing a stick perfectly on their snout. See where I’m going with this?
You might, but the egrets usually don’t. The twig-on-the-nose trick is rather successful in luring birds in, and once they get close enough, the alligators send the stick flying up into the air to make room in their jaw for the bird they are about to chomp down on. It’s a process that can have mixed results, though the gator in the video had the practice down pat.
Take a look:
