Discovering Louisiana Alligator Tour Near New Orleans

By Laura Smith


When visiting New Orleans, there are a lot activities, sight-seeing tours and awesome restaurants. Whereas, party lovers often love to make an annual trip to Mardi Gras each year. While this is the case, a ghostly Louisiana Alligator tour can also be a lot of fun.

One way to plan one of these tours is in association with other events going on in the city. For, while the tours are exciting, most run an hour and a half to two hours. As such, there is a lot free time left to explore the area once the tour comes to an end.

The reaction of most people when seeing wild alligators is to run as fast as possible in the opposite direction. While this is the case, alligators rarely attack people unless provoked. Although, these reptiles are reported to have the strongest bite of any other animal alive on earth.

While Louisiana now has a large and abundant alligator population, this was not always the case. In fact, it was not until the early 1960s, when a large drop in population was recognized by the state's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. It is believed the drop was due to a number of poachers in the area which were killing the alligators for skin which would then be sold to the fashion industry.

While poaching has slowed down since the 1980s, conservation programs have remained in place to assure the population will only continue to rise. One way conservationists are doing so is by having ranchers incubate eggs found in the wild, then release 14% of the alligators born from those eggs back into the wild. As a result, the population had grown from 300,000 in 1985 to over 3 million in the current population.

Alligators are often known as kings of the everglades due to their size and strength. For, most often these reptilian creatures range in size from eight to fifteen feet and live a span of eighty or more years. In addition, with a bite that is equivalent to a small vehicle crushing down a person, getting too close is not an option. Ironically, at the same time alligators have difficulty picking up their prey due to the shape of their jaws. Instead, most compensate by swallowing anything near an intended meal, whole and with one quick gulp.

Alligators also have strong stomach acids which allow easy digestion and the consumption of metal. Sensors inside the jaws allow these reptiles to detect motion in all depths of water. The sensors purpose, to allow the reptiles to locate food quickly and easily when in the area. As such, most operators do not allow food or drink on the boat as if any were to be dropped or thrown overboard, it could create a negative experience for the alligators and potentially, those aboard the boat.

The Crescent City area offers several different alligator and swamp tours in different cities. One operator, Cajun Pride Swamp tours in Laplace provides a viewing opportunity in an area where alligators generally stay underwater save for popping up their eyes and snouts. Whereas, Cajun Encounters which departs from Slidell, Louisiana provides an evening sunset tour of the Honey Island Swamp, an area in which sightings of the Honey Island Swap Monster run rampant, either of which can make for an interesting and exciting experience.




About the Author:




EmoticonEmoticon