Reptiles are what we call cold blooded or ectothermic animals, meaning that their body temperature is dependent on the temperature of the environment. When reptiles are cold they get very lethargic and if cold enough, can even go into a stupor. To maintain normal activity levels and metabolisms they frequently bask in warm places. American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) are no exception. That’s why back at the end of March, when the evenings were still somewhat cool, these gators were enjoying the afternoon sun in Payne’s Prairie. They weren’t far off the shore on a very small sandbar in the creek where we were hiking. I’m pretty used to alligators, but I do have to say, this was a pretty impressive bunch. The sandbar was too long to get into one photo unless I had shot it from pretty far away, but I really wanted to capture all the animals, so I decided to shoot a number of shots and produce a panorama instead. If you enlarge the photo you can see the details of all the gators, including the one with its mouth wide open.