Glowing eyes of Georgia alligator betray site where a swamp ritual was in progress

Creepy things are plentiful in Southern swamps at night, but a trail camera in Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp Park recently captured images of a ritual that is seldom witnessed.

The black-and-white photos show a large alligator — its eyes aglow — writhing as it uses its hind legs to shove debris around in the dark.

This is how alligators build nests, and the end result is often so well disguised that people seldom notice them, according to the University of Georgia’s Coastal Ecology Lab.

The “dominant female” alligator in the photos is called Sally, researchers said.

“Alligator nests are large mounds made up of sticks, leaves, pine straw, dirt and other debris on the ground,” the lab wrote on its Facebook post.

“Sally’s nest is currently about three feet wide at the base and about two feet tall. ... She is still building it though, so it will be even larger when she finishes. Sally is still quite plump so we don’t believe she has laid her eggs yet.”

The Coastal Ecology Lab discovered the nest last week, and reported it was Sally’s first since 2018.

Knowing where such nests are — and avoiding them — is important because “the mother defends the nest against predators throughout the incubation period, approximately 65 days,” the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory reports.

Big nests are typically required because American alligators “lay between 20 and 60 eggs,” the lab reports. The species typically nests between late June and mid-July in Georgia.

The tea-colored waters of Okefenokee Swamp cover about 438,000 acres and the swamp has as many as 13,000 gators, according to Sherpa Guides. The water’s color comes from rotting vegetation, experts say.

It’s believed the oldest alligator in the swamp is a one-eyed female between 60 and 80 years old, according to a March Facebook post by the Coastal Ecology Lab. The biggest gator involved in the lab’s swamp research is 11 feet, 5 inches and weighs more than 400 pounds.

This story was originally published July 14, 2021 at 7:20 AM with the headline "Glowing eyes of Georgia alligator betray site where a swamp ritual was in progress."