The ultimate guide to understanding the biology and behavior of the amazing and underappreciated American alligator.

Few scenes put the senses on edge more than a submerged alligator, only eyes and snout showing, when peering across a southern lake on a misty morning. An iconic American predator, these reptiles grow to thirteen feet or more and can live as long as humans. Alligators are complex creatures, capable of terrific attacks and yet tending to their young in the same gentle way a mother duck looks after her brood. Once extremely numerous, alligators came close to extinction in the twentieth century, but thanks to conservation efforts have since made a comeback, reclaiming their rightful place as the monarchs of the southern wetlands.

In this fascinating account, richly illustrated with more than 150 photographs from award-winning wildlife photographer Wayne Lynch, expert zoologist Kent A. Vliet introduces readers to the biology, ecology, and natural history of the American alligator. Sharing nuanced depictions of their hidden lives that will forever change the way you think of these giant reptiles, the book

• combines captivating storytelling with the most current scientific facts
• chronicles the life cycle of the alligator
• explains why the alligator's precise anatomy and physiology make it so successful
• covers a wide range of topics, from courtship and reproduction to communication, basking, nest-building, and hunting
• reveals the alligator's sophisticated social life in detail
• evaluates the alligator's environmental role as a keystone species
• examines the complicated relationship between alligators and people

Renowned wildlife photographer Wayne Lynch is the author or coauthor of numerous books, including Owls of the United States and Canada: A Complete Guide to Their Biology and Behavior and Polar Bears: A Complete Guide to Their Biology and Behavior.

Kent A. Vliet's profile page

Wildlife photographer and science writer Dr. Wayne Lynch has dedicated almost three decades to learning everything he can about these powerful mammals. In his quest for bears, he has crawled inside the winter dens of black bears and polar bears, held squirming grizzly cubs in his arms, sailed along the coastal rainforests of British Columbia, hiked the cloud forests of the Andes Mountains in South America and ridden elephants through the jungles of Nepal and India.

In Bears, Bears, Bears for Kids, his engaging guide to the world's eight bear species, Lynch introduces us to the strange and wonderful natural histories of these magnificent wild animals.

For more than 40 years, Dr. Wayne Lynch has been writing about and photographing the wildlands of the world from the stark beauty of the Arctic and Antarctic to the lush rainforests of the tropics. Today, he is one of Canada's best-known and most widely published nature writers and wildlife photographers. His photo credits include hundreds of magazine covers, thousands of calendar shots, and tens of thousands of images published in over 80 countries. He is also the author/photographer of more than 45 books for children as well as over 20 highly acclaimed natural history books for adults including Windswept: A Passionate View of the Prairie Grasslands; Penguins of the World; Bears: Monarchs of the Northern Wilderness; A is for Arctic: Natural Wonders of a Polar World; Wild Birds Across the Prairies;Planet Arctic: Life at the Top of the World; The Great Northern Kingdom: Life in the Boreal Forest; Owls of the United States and Canada: A Complete Guide to their Biology and Behavior; Penguins: The World's Coolest Birds; Galapagos: A Traveler's Introduction; A Celebration of Prairie Birds; and Bears of the North: A Year Inside Their Worlds.In 2022, he released Wildlife of the Rockies for Kids and Loons: Treasured Symbols of the North. His books have won multiple awards and have been described as "a magical combination of words and images."

Wayne Lynch's profile page