OCEAN ISLE BEACH, N.C. — You might have heard of frozen iguanas falling out of trees in Florida.
Well — what about frozen alligators? I mean... they're both reptiles, right?
No, they're not falling out of trees, but they are getting stuck in frozen swamp waters. When they do this, it's for survival purposes; it's called brumation.
The Swamp Park in Ocean Isle Beach, NC shared photos of their alligators over the weekend, where they had to pop their snouts out while stuck under the frozen water.
Not to worry, they shared some pictures of them out of the ice and they appear to be just fine.
The park is home to several rescue alligators who live in these swamp-like ponds. As the Arctic air pounded the East Coast last week, these cold-blooded reptiles had no choice but to deal with frigid temperatures — even if that meant they had to remain frozen in place.
"The key to life is adaptation, who better to show this than the American Alligator!! Alligator in Ice 2024," a spokesperson for the park shared in a Facebook post.
What is brumation?
For some, it's uncommon to hear about a gator frozen in ice — especially in North Carolina.
According to SCAquarium.org, these cold-blooded creatures are quick to adapt to their environment. Because they don't hibernate, they brumate instead — which is a period where they go dormant as a warm-blooded mammal would during the cold months.
It could be closely related to hibernation, but instead of being asleep and inactive, they still have periods of activity during brumation. They drink to avoid becoming dehydrated, but they don't eat.
Also during brumation, their metabolism slows down, causing them to become lethargic.
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