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National Geographic Realm of the Alligator
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This is a place of unseen danger |
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It is a mysterious swamp called |
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the realm of the Alligator. |
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Okefenokee... |
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a forbidding place once |
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It sheltered fugitives |
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and inspired fear and superstition. |
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Today Okefenokee Swamp is a |
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But even for people like |
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Dr. John Paling, |
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"Whenever I go back to Okefenokee now, |
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> From the air when you go across it, |
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and so serene and so natural |
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And yet it can be a place |
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that it seems almost as if man was never |
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Okefenokee Swamp is a |
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A mosaic of islands, forest, marshes, |
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It's famed for its alligators |
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The comic-strip possum. |
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Although it overlaps |
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most of Okefenokee lies |
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Okefenokee's population |
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was driven out in the 1830s. |
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It was soon infiltrated |
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By the 1930s the swampers |
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Showing off alligator nests and eggs |
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The swampers were a breed apart. |
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Many had few needs or |
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Those who knew them admired their |
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Soon after the turn of the century, |
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virgin stands of cypress brought |
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This and earlier schemes |
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through the swamp and even to drain it |
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threatened to destroy Okefenokee. |
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But much of Okefenokee's prime timber |
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Soon the swampers were alone again. |
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In 1937, Okefenokee was declared |
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The human residents would |
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One old-timer said, |
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we have the swamp and that's good. |
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But the swampers are all gone. |
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It's just a shame we can't have both. |
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More than fifty years |
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relics of the old logging camps |
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Now deep in regrowing forest, |
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they're objects of curiosity |
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Kent Vliet and John Paling. |
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This is an old train. |
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Oh, this is? |
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The engine was up front... |
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and there would be water |
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After working here for several seasons |
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has become intimately familiar |
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And there's something even more |
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Come and have a guess sat this. |
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What do you make of this? |
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That's some sort of a chassis. |
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Right. |
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Is that what they carried the logs on? |
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Nope. Try again. |
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Don't forget we're on |
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so try again. |
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Some sort of swamp buggy |
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It's a car. They had three cars |
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Really? That's a heavy... |
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Heavy duty, isn't it? |
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But look how well the metal's |
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And there's another thing |
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You see why it's so good? |
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It's British |
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Right-hand drive. |
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It's Durant car that they brought over |
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on the trains for three people. |
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Yeah. There were three cars |
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And this thing is preserved so well. |
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Many cars that are ten years old |
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that's a very heavy chassis. |
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Right. I think it was just to |
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There's a big turpentine still |
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And there was a cinema, |
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All gone now. |
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Yep. |
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Trains. |
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When the logging company |
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they just tried to get all |
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when the National Parks Fish |
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Although parts of Okefenokee can be |
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it is better explored by boat. |
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The waters of Okefenokee look like |
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dark but highly reflective. |
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It is a landscape of mirrors, |
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Kent Vliet is from |
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He's an expert on Okefenokee's most |
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You know there's one right |
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Yep. I can see that one. |
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The ability to "call" alligators by |
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is a valuable skill for |
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It's coming. |
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Whoa, hey. |
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Do they have binocular vision? |
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Only a little small fraction of |
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just in front of their nose is binocular |
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No, he's fine. |
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Wow. |
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Why do they have the yellow |
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Is there a function that's |
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A number of aquatic animals have |
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coloration around the eye like |
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It might have something to do with |
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Sort of the reverse of a football player |
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To make you see better in fact. |
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He's going to go down. |
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How long will they stay under water? |
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They can stay under a good long time. |
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When they're resting in the afternoon, |
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He's up again, look. |
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Yeah, there it is. |
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In the wintertime they may |
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Nobody knows. |
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For days and days? |
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You mean they really... |
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Well, yeah, in the sense |
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Their metabolism slows down so much |
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when they're that cold that they |
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And they don't eat, obviously, |
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No, they don't eat for several months |
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I should think the average member |
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and sees an alligator thinks |
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Back in the Age of the Reptiles. |
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The study of alligator social behavior |
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has occupied Kent Vliet |
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At his laboratory in Gainesville, |
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he works with a wealth |
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We've learned that alligator |
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It's much more complex and |
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than the behavior of other reptiles |
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And so our dealings with alligator |
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document the types of behaviors |
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Not only in simple terms of |
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but as they might represent |
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from which the more complex behaviors |
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Most of Kent's observations |
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the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. |
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Several hundred alligators are |
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for the enlightenment of tourists. |
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The farm affords easy access to |
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before that just to see |
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Are there many differences |
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and the ones you get in the wild? |
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Well, captive animals look a |
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The most noticeable difference... |
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Is that the head of a captive animal |
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You don't have this beautifully |
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That's because captive animals spend |
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and at least in old animals like these |
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the head weighs so much |
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that is just tends to flatten itself out |
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It spreads out and becomes much broader |
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Is that what squeezes the teeth out too |
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because they're all showing |
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They're very toothy animals |
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Also all the scales on their back |
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much more so than |
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And that's just because these animals |
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and they crawl over each other. |
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they just kind of buff each other |
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Since 1981 Kent Vliet has made |
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of alligator behavior |
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from April into June. |
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But Kent was not happy |
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It was secure, but didn't provide |
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He decided to enter the lake |
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It is possible, when you're in the lake |
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that a big male will decide |
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and actually come up and try |
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We've had very few problems |
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but there's always the potential for |
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and doing some real damage. |
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Kent has found that alligators here |
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especially during mating season. |
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And, to increase his knowledge, |
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he puts this opinion to |
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We learned early on in our research |
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that we needed to get off |
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and go down and look at alligators |
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Alligators communicate to |
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they hold their bodies |
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And we got down into the water |
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how alligators are talking |
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Kent has taken a lot of kidding |
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in alligators and "seeing eye to eye" |
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But he feels that because he can |
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he can ward off trouble before |
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I look for animals that are obviously |
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as aggressive animals. |
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The way they tilt their head |
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and how high they hold their body |
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are all indications |
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Not all the animals that come |
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Many are curious, but I still have |
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I can't let them get too close to me. |
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I carry a large, about five-foot-long |
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And if an animal does get too close, |
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I just nudge it away and try to |
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The meaning, if any, of an alligator's |
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But other behavior like this |
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head-slapping display |
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It is an assertive gesture, |
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advertising an alligator's |
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In courtship season |
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"bellowing choruses" almost daily. |
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Both sexes bellow, but they |
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Just before a male bellows, |
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he produces subsonic signals that make |
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In the wild these signals may |
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Courtship is a quiet and oddly tender |
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that Kent has sometimes been able |
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Courtship is usually initiated by one |
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And this is a very important stage |
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because they have to communicate |
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to each animal that they |
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And secondly, |
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they go into a period of touching one |
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And they really orient to each |
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in the third phase of courtship these |
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become more exaggerated |
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and the animals start pressing |
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And these are real tests of strength |
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And these will be accentuated until one |
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under water |
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and mount on that animal |
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and ultimately roll over to one side |
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However they behave, |
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alligators have reproduced quite |
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Here, until the 1970s |
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Now, stiff laws protect a population |
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In summer, bubbling gases are like |
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Beneath the dark waters |
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of decomposing vegetation called peat. |
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The gases it creates sometimes |
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of peat to float on the surface. |
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Old-timers called this a 'blow-up'. |
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Over time, the floating mats of peat |
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Some sink again, but others become |
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and eventually support bushes |
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Ultimately, the trees take root |
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small wooded islands |
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Okefenokee is an Indian word that means |
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John Paling shows how fitting |
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when he lands on a |
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I actually enjoy walking on |
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It's one of these strange experiences |
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The waters of Okefenokee |
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about as acidic as strong tea |
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Conditions favor the growth |
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that are found here in great variety. |
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This pitcher plant lures insects to |
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Once inside, few insects escape. |
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They're fooled by light |
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that line the back of the tube. |
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They exhaust themselves trying |
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Eventually the insects fall |
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There they are dissolved by acid |
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Another deadly attraction is the sundew |
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Its leaves are adorned |
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tipped with shiny droplets |
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apparently a sweet meal |
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But hungry insects soon |
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Escape is impossible when the plant |
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Along the edges of islands |
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insects are snared |
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When it's all over, |
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there will be nothing left of them |
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As night falls Okefenokee's gloom |
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One hundred million years ago |
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the alligator's ancestors thrived |
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As far as we know, they looked much |
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The eyes of the alligator |
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They shine with an eerie glow |
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John Paling and Kent Vliet conduct |
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Disturbing alligators here in |
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Even scientists like Vliet need |
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Let's cut off the engine for a minute |
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Wow! That makes a difference, |
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Let's pole from here. |
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Nice and quiet without that outboard. |
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Sure thing. |
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Do you see any gators yet, or not? |
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I haven't seen any |
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I'll just flash the light around there |
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Is that one over there? |
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Yeah. That's one back |
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Let's try and get a bit closer to it, |
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I'll pole some more if you'll keep |
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Unlike the closely related crocodile, |
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There are only about a half dozen |
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and there has never been a serious |
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Even so, there's a certain tension |
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Do you see one? |
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I'll keep going. Say when. |
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Okay, Just a little closer. |
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You got one? |
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The captured baby gives |
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John and Kent work quickly. |
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They want to minimize stress |
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and avoid trouble with its mother |
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Forty-two-and-a-half centimeters. |
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Forty-two? |
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Uh huh. Forty-two. Good. |
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What's it reading? |
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It's just at 200 grams. |
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Watch it, watch it, watch it, watch it |
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My god! She's really cruising. |
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Is it the call of the baby? |
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Yeah. The baby's just |
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Well, hang on. Her jaws are open a bit |
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Her teeth are showing. |
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I don't think it's a good idea |
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Do you want to put the baby back, |
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Probably what I should do is just tap her |
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They are often a little more brave |
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Watch! She's coming, Kent. |
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Boy, she really concentrates on that... |
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She just localizes right |
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I think I had better push her off. |
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She's a little too close. |
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This is not safe. |
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She's not safe? |
| 00:28:26 |
No. |
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How about just putting the baby back? |
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Yeah. We're definitely |
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So Kent builds a record of |
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Females grow to an average |
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While males may be up to 14 feet |
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Not all of Okefenokee's wonders |
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John Paling explores a pine forest in |
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The birds are endangered |
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They live in groups of three or more, |
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and each of these so-called "clans" |
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requires about 200 acres of home range |
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This small woodpecker, |
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has become famous for |
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It will only make holes |
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that are usually infected by |
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The fungus softens the tree's |
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making the woodpecker's work easy. |
| 00:30:00 |
When a clan of woodpeckers finds trees |
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They may remain here for life. |
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The woodpecker's keep busy, however, |
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carrying out a fascinating scheme |
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They constantly make fresh holes |
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causing them to exude a |
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It's a sharp and smelly substance, |
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the main ingredient of turpentine. |
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The woodpecker's nest hole |
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And it's always located |
| 00:30:56 |
where the heat of the sun will |
| 00:31:00 |
The reason for all this only |
| 00:31:03 |
with the appearance of a predator |
| 00:31:30 |
Sometimes this snake can be |
| 00:31:36 |
It can climb straight up and reach |
| 00:32:43 |
Eggs or baby birds |
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inside the woodpecker's nest |
| 00:32:49 |
But now the resin comes into play. |
| 00:32:51 |
To the snake it's a powerful irritant. |
| 00:32:54 |
Frequently is stops the snake entirely |
| 00:32:57 |
Even if the snake persists, |
| 00:32:59 |
it still tries to avoid contact |
| 00:33:02 |
Often the snake ends up retreating |
| 00:33:34 |
Such moments of threat and drama |
| 00:33:36 |
frequently interrupt the tranquility |
| 00:33:40 |
The predator in one situation can |
| 00:37:06 |
A baby alligator in pursuit |
| 00:37:12 |
Hiding underwater, the katydid |
| 00:37:16 |
But after two minutes or so, |
| 00:37:48 |
It's midsummer. |
| 00:37:50 |
John Paling and Kent Vliet |
| 00:37:54 |
At this time of year dozens of nests |
| 00:37:58 |
The best way to find one is |
| 00:38:01 |
the female alligator has made |
| 00:38:03 |
when coming and going from the nest. |
| 00:38:06 |
They should be pretty clear. |
| 00:38:07 |
If they're used often like a trail |
| 00:38:11 |
they're pretty obvious. |
| 00:38:15 |
This looks like one right here. |
| 00:38:17 |
Right by these yellow flowers |
| 00:38:21 |
Let's shove the nose of the boat |
| 00:38:23 |
Yeah, this is one. |
| 00:38:25 |
Oh, I can see it. |
| 00:38:26 |
Yeah. It does look like |
| 00:38:32 |
That one looks really packed down. |
| 00:38:33 |
I think it's probably |
| 00:38:38 |
Alligator trails form a network of |
| 00:38:43 |
They were often followed |
| 00:38:46 |
But there's a drawback. |
| 00:38:47 |
Alligators like to lie submerged |
| 00:38:51 |
It's all to easy to step on one. |
| 00:39:20 |
In the nesting season the female |
| 00:39:25 |
She herself has nothing to fear, |
| 00:39:31 |
Scavengers often attack the nest. |
| 00:39:34 |
Wait a minute. Here's the nest. |
| 00:39:37 |
It's been attacked, hasn't it? |
| 00:39:38 |
No, I think they've been eaten. |
| 00:39:42 |
Something's gotten into the nest |
| 00:39:45 |
Oh. What would have eaten these then? |
| 00:39:47 |
Probably either raccoons or black bears |
| 00:39:50 |
Black bears eat a lot of |
| 00:39:53 |
But I mean raccoons and bears wouldn't |
| 00:39:57 |
Well, there could be one living |
| 00:39:59 |
or he may have moved |
| 00:40:01 |
It's hard to say if it was |
| 00:40:05 |
Sometimes black bears will pick off |
| 00:40:08 |
and just eat the insides out of it. |
| 00:40:11 |
I don't know how they do it. |
| 00:40:12 |
They may just use a claw and |
| 00:40:15 |
This is sort of like an island. |
| 00:40:19 |
I think this nest is either sunk |
| 00:40:23 |
after she built it or the water level |
| 00:40:27 |
These things just scrape up all |
| 00:40:34 |
You see there's peat in here |
| 00:40:37 |
and a lot of plant matter |
| 00:40:39 |
And also the rotting plant |
| 00:40:43 |
It creates heat as it rots, |
| 00:40:47 |
than they would be just |
| 00:40:49 |
Could she still be around now these |
| 00:40:52 |
I think she probably came back |
| 00:40:53 |
and realized that it had been disturbed |
| 00:40:55 |
and just lost interest and left. |
| 00:40:57 |
Let's find another one then. |
| 00:40:59 |
Okay. That's really too bad. |
| 00:41:14 |
Often the female alligator |
| 00:41:18 |
And when she discovers an intruder, |
| 00:41:31 |
John Paling once faced such |
| 00:41:35 |
when filming a nest. |
| 00:41:54 |
This was, in Paling's understated words |
| 00:41:57 |
a moment |
| 00:42:01 |
It ended only when he backed off, |
| 00:42:24 |
The fierce protection given the nest |
| 00:42:27 |
plays a vital part |
| 00:42:32 |
The female turtle tries to lay her eggs |
| 00:42:37 |
If she succeeds, |
| 00:42:38 |
the mother alligator |
| 00:42:39 |
will unwittingly stand guard over |
| 00:42:55 |
Risking attack, |
| 00:42:56 |
the turtle invades the nest |
| 00:42:59 |
taking advantage of the warmth |
| 00:43:43 |
Leaving her eggs behind, |
| 00:43:47 |
It's just as risky as getting in. |
| 00:43:54 |
Most adult turtles in Okefenokee |
| 00:44:00 |
Often they are not harmed. |
| 00:44:02 |
It's as if alligators recognize |
| 00:44:06 |
Finding it hard to crack, |
| 00:44:15 |
The female turtle has done her part. |
| 00:44:17 |
She leaves her eggs in the alligator's |
| 00:44:29 |
For otters, turtles are handy |
| 00:44:39 |
Otters are perhaps the most |
| 00:44:44 |
And playfulness is believed |
| 00:44:47 |
of animal intelligence. |
| 00:45:20 |
Violent thunderstorms often |
| 00:45:24 |
And during a dry period |
| 00:45:40 |
Peat, when dry, is flammable. |
| 00:45:43 |
It can burn slowly and steadily |
| 00:45:47 |
So fire eats away the land |
| 00:46:03 |
Scientists think such fires may serve |
| 00:46:07 |
creating hollows where new ponds |
| 00:46:55 |
Recovery after a fire is swift. |
| 00:46:58 |
Soon Okefenokee is once again |
| 00:48:04 |
By late summer the baby alligators |
| 00:48:09 |
It has taken about nine weeks |
| 00:48:14 |
A chorus of cries from the nest |
| 00:48:16 |
brings the mother alligator |
| 00:48:20 |
The baby turtles may also be hatching |
| 00:49:24 |
The alligator baby. |
| 00:49:26 |
Its cries have been loud enough |
| 00:49:28 |
even before the egg has broken open. |
| 00:49:38 |
Interestingly enough, the sex |
| 00:49:41 |
is determined by the temperature |
| 00:49:44 |
Above 90 degrees Fahrenheit |
| 00:49:48 |
Below 87 degrees there are |
| 00:49:51 |
No one yet knows precisely |
| 00:50:04 |
The mother alligator tries to seize the |
| 00:50:11 |
The baby turtles aren't so fortunate. |
| 00:50:13 |
In all the confusion they're |
| 00:50:19 |
With ponderous care, |
| 00:50:21 |
the mother alligator carries |
| 00:50:48 |
The baby turtles seem to know |
| 00:50:52 |
when the mother alligator is near. |
| 00:51:04 |
When the baby turtles |
| 00:51:06 |
they head unerringly |
| 00:51:35 |
When all this is over, |
| 00:51:36 |
a new generation of both turtles and |
| 00:51:47 |
In 1960 a dam was built in |
| 00:51:51 |
on the Suwannee River |
| 00:51:57 |
By holding water in the swamp, |
| 00:51:59 |
the dam is intended to prevent fires |
| 00:52:04 |
But it could also upset |
| 00:52:07 |
and regeneration that makes |
| 00:52:10 |
Experts disagree, |
| 00:52:12 |
and it could be decades |
| 00:52:25 |
In the realm of the alligator, |
| 00:52:27 |
life continues according |
| 00:52:45 |
At this age the young alligators |
| 00:52:49 |
They will remain in |
| 00:52:51 |
for several months |
| 00:52:58 |
So the alligator has survived |
| 00:53:01 |
long before the time of man. |
| 00:53:04 |
And with sufficient human knowledge |
| 00:53:07 |
the alligator will remain |
| 00:53:10 |
an ancient and durable survivor |
