Our common aquatic resident of Horry County the alligator inhabits fresh water swamps, marshes and rivers along the coastal plain. Once endangered, the alligator has made a comeback.

Female alligators will lay an average of 44 eggs per nest of which only 50% hatch. Of those that hatch only 2% will reach adulthood. Alligators, crocodiles and their cousins, the gharial are living records of the Great Age of Reptiles that existed in the Mesozoic Era 225 - 65 mya.

Prominent features of the alligator include: brains and hearts more advanced than other living reptiles, nostrils and ears that close under-water, replaceable teeth, and a true cerebral cortex allowing the animal more learned behavior.