Croc & Gator Wise
The American Edition
Alligator mississippiensis · Crocodylus acutus
The field safety guide to America’s alligators and crocodiles.
The Oldest Relationship
“For as long as human beings have gathered at the water’s edge to drink, wash, fish and cross, these animals have been there — patient, ancient, and entirely capable of taking one of us.”
Know the Animal
“The American alligator is the one nearly every American will meet. The American crocodile is a coastal species most people never realize lives here at all.”
Illustration — telling an alligator from a crocodile by the snout.
Clear Water Is Not Safe
“In alligator and crocodile country, you cannot tell by looking whether the water is safe. The most important skill you will ever learn is how to behave so that you are never tested at all.”
The Perfect Ambush
“The danger is almost never the animal you can see and keep your eye on. It is the one you cannot see — the one that has already been watching you.”
Myths That Get People Killed
““It’s only a gator.” “It’s just a pond.” “It’s only two feet deep.” The most dangerous things people believe — and why each one is wrong.”
How to Behave
“You stay safe not by out-spotting the animal, but by never becoming the predictable pattern it is waiting for.”
A quiet bank, a baited line — and water you can’t see into.
Why Crocodilians Matter
“Crocodilians are not monsters to be removed from a tidied-up world, but magnificent survivors that have earned their place — and living alongside them is our responsibility.”
Living Alongside Crocodilians
“Give every crocodilian, whatever its name, a crocodile’s worth of respect.”
Tom & Stacey Crutchfield — a lifetime spent living alongside these animals.