Good morning, the middle of the week is here already. It’s Wednesday.
On a trip to Florida not long ago, we encountered a small alligator. It was sunbathing next to a pond across from a small residential development.
The pond was enclosed by a chain-link fence, but the gator, who was maybe about five feet long – so not a terribly large specimen, as gators go – was easy to spot and had attracted a minor crowd of curious onlookers.
We went back a few times that day to check to see if the gator was still there. He (?) was. He didn’t seem terribly interested in moving or doing much of anything. He wasn’t even mildly perturbed by the birds that were hopping around the edge of the pond well within his reach. They didn’t seem terribly concerned about him, either.
This might be because the birds were aware that alligators don’t actually eat all that frequently – definitely not every day.
Alligators (and also crocodiles, but we’ll get there in a minute) are cold blooded reptiles and so have slow metabolisms. When they’re more active in the spring and summer, they tend to eat more frequently – about once a week for adult gators, and a few times a week for growing gators.
When it’s cold, they become more dormant and can go with virtually nothing to eat for months on end, relying on the fat stores in their tails for sustenance. If necessary, they can go for a whole year without eating a single meal – though this is not their preference.
As an aside, alligators have the best ability of all crocodilians to survive colder temperatures. They can basically exist under the ice by sticking their snouts above water and letting it freeze around them so they can continue to breathe. They go into a suspended animation called “brumantion.”
Crocodiles, by contrast, lack the physiological adaptations to survive prolonged freezes, and are unable to enter brumation.
We knew that what we were looking at in Florida (Sarasota County, for the record) was an alligator because it had a rounded u-shaped snout, as opposed to a narrow, pointed snout. Also, we were unable to see its teeth when its mouth was closed; crocs have more jagged teeth, giving them their infamous toothy “grin”.
But it COULD have also been a crocodile, because South Florida is the only place in the whole world where American alligators and crocodiles live together in the wild.
Also, there are a heck of a lot more alligators in South Florida than there are crocodiles. There are an estimated 1.25 million alligators living across the Sunshine State, making their homes in its many inland lakes, marshes, and canals.
However, there are only about 1,500 to 2,000 adult crocodiles in Florida, and since they have special glands that allow them to filter saltwater, they are generally restricted to coastal areas and/or brackish waters.
For the record, though crocodiles and alligators are opportunistic apex predators and WILL eat people if they get the chance, people aren’t necessarily their prime prey targets.
That said, crocodiles are more aggressive and dangerous, and have been known to attack unprovoked, while alligators really just want to be left alone and won’t generally attack unless provoked or protecting nests and/or territory.
Today is World Crocodile Day, which was established in 2017 by the Crocodile Research Coalition to highlight the plight of endangered crocodiles, alligators, and caimans, promoting conservation efforts and education about these reptiles that understanding have rather dodgy reputations and spark fear in many people.
The incredibly beautiful, balmy, and sunny days sadly are coming to an end. Today will be cloudy in the morning, with scattered showers developing in the afternoon. There will be a chance of thunderstorms, too. Temperatures will top out in the high 70s.
In the headlines…
President Trump and other world leaders issued a joint statement praising Trump’s “strong leadership” in securing a “breakthrough” with Iran, as they gathered today in France for the second full day of the annual Group of 7 summit.
Europe’s alliance with the United States may still be on the rocks, but on the first full day of a Group of 7 summit meeting at this Alpine spa town in France, the leaders showed they remained ready to behave politely toward Trump.
The Senate thwarted Democrats’ latest attempt to force President Trump to seek authorization for the war in Iran, with Republicans largely banding together behind the president amid skepticism about a cease-fire deal he has yet to share with Congress.
The Senate voted 87-8 to consider a bipartisan housing bill after months of haggling between the House and Senate GOP.
The FBI said that it disrupted an attempt to attack Sunday’s UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House. Court records detail an alleged plot to use small drones carrying explosives and snipers to target senior government officials and wealthy attendees.
What began with a concerned mother of an Ohio teen calling police on her son ended in the thwarting of a terror plot involving drones and snipers aimed at members of U.S. Congress attending Sunday’s UFC event at the White House, the government alleges.
Court papers unsealed yesterday say plotters who harbored fringe conspiracy theories spoke of flying explosives-laden drones and shooting panicked crowd members as they fled.
The Trump administration is further dismantling the Education Department, moving oversight of special education and civil rights to other agencies.
The US Education Department plans to move work overseeing special-education services and civil rights out of the agency, part of the Trump administration’s effort to close the department by moving all its functions to other parts of the government.
They were two of the US Education Department’s last major offices to outsource major functions, and the announcement signifies the progress the Trump administration has made toward its goal of closing the agency.
President Trump’s chosen candidates swept three Republican Senate primaries on Tuesday, but he ran into trouble in other races in Georgia.
Health care executive Rick Jackson defeated Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in Georgia’s GOP gubernatorial primary Tuesday, with the help of over $100 million of his personal wealth.
Georgia Rep. Mike Collins, who was boosted by a last-minute endorsement from Trump, is the GOP’s nominee to take on incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in one of this year’s most closely watched Senate races.
Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein spoke and wrote about his desire to take his own life in the weeks before he died by suicide, according to a new report in The New York Times Magazine.
Hillary Clinton suggested in a new interview that the Democratic Party’s loss in 2024 boiled down to a “terrible miscalculation” — President Joe Biden decision to run for re-election.
Speaking at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, Clinton said Biden had reneged on a prior commitment to step aside – and that the betrayal of that promise proved catastrophic. “He made a terrible mistake for himself, his legacy, and for the country,” she said.
“I believe if he had kept to that plan and said in, say, the late summer of ‘23 that he wasn’t going to run, that he was going to pass, you know, the torch to the next generation, we would have had a real contest,” Clinton added.
The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration claiming it rigged the bids on an $11 billion Medicaid homecare program — allowing a handpicked company to siphon off millions in taxpayer money.
The vice president embarked on a media blitz this week – including an appearance yesterday on “The View” – to promote a new book he has written about his faith as speculation ramps up about his ambitions for a presidential run in 2028.
Vance will be in Bethpage, Long Island, this morning to headline a ticket-only event that will be focused on the Trump administration’s ongoing “crackdown on crime and fraud.”
The Huntington Town Board has approved a six-month moratorium on permits and approvals for the installation of battery storage systems in the town, citing ongoing concerns over fire safety.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that nearly 3 million New York homeowners and seniors will receive tax relief this summer through New York’s Schools Tax Relief (STAR) program.
The Justice Department accused New York officials of failing to police a vendor it said had siphoned off millions of dollars. A spokeswoman for Hochul called the suit an attempt to weaponize the justice system.
Retiring Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris is set to endorse Assemblymember Claire Valdez in her bid to succeed Rep. Nydia Velázquez in NY-7, handing a significant boost to the Valdez campaign exactly one week from the Democratic primary.
A bitter state Senate race in the middle of Hakeem Jeffries’ House district is shaping up as a bellwether in the ongoing proxy war between moderate Democrats and members of the Democratic Socialists of America.
New York’s newly enacted pied-à-terre tax could leave entire co-op buildings on the hook for hefty tax bills if a wealthy second-home owner refuses to pay — sparking alarm among real estate brokers and co-op advocates.
Thousands of pounds of tiny white confetti shreds will rain down on the city as the champion New York Knicks parade through lower Manhattan for the biggest ticker-tape parade in Big Apple history.
The city and Mayor Zohran Mamdani are giving out 600 free tickets to fans to attend a ceremony on the City Hall plaza after the parade where the Knicks will be given keys to the city.
It’s the first key designed without the city seal, with a design focus on the Mamdani’s “own civic identity,” according to a press release. The design is also meant to showcase the city’s “diversity and dynamism.”
Mamdani seemingly confirmed reports that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will tie the knot in New York City on Fourth of July weekend while discussing public safety amid major events.
The Rent Guidelines Board held its last public hearing before its annual vote on potential rent hikes for stabilized tenants. It is considering anything from a rent freeze to a 2% increase on one-year leases and up to a 4% increase on two-year leases.
There was a lot of shouting at the RBG hearing. Among the speakers was Assemblyman Lester Chang who tried without success to bring together both sides.
Dozens of incarcerated students crossed the graduation stage yesterday to receive their diploma from the public high school on Rikers, East River Academy — with a surprise commencement address by Mayor Mamdani.
As Mamdani moves forward with plans for city-owned grocery stores — a key campaign promise aimed at lowering food costs — San Fransisco Supervisor Bilal Mahmood is proposing a broader effort in San Francisco.
Washington, D.C. appears poised to get its first Socialist Democrat mayor, as Janeese Lewis George holds a firm lead over fellow Council member Kenyan McDuffie in the Democratic primary.
Mamdani and Council member Yusef Salaam, both Muslims, penned a Daily News op-ed about the importance of combatting hate crimes.
Darializa Avila Chevalier, the far-left, Mamdani-backed congressional candidate who is seeking to topple Rep. Adriano Espaillat in a hotly contested Democratic primary, repeatedly apologized for her nasty tweets that included cursing out Kamala Harris.
Over 60% of Avila Chevalier’s roughly $350,000 fundraising haul comes from out-of-state donors despite billing herself as “100% powered by the people” on her campaign website.
The carriage horse that died suddenly in Central Park last week expired after eating a “substantial” quantity of a poisonous plant, according to a necropsy report released by the TWU — a finding the union says undercuts claims the horse was worked to death.
A brawl erupted between a mob of Argentinian and Algerian soccer fans in Times Square ahead of their World Cup showdown yesterday, police said.
Two NYPD officers were fired after participating in a group chat that included racist messages, monkey emojis, jokes about people from India “riding camels,” and a photo of a police car with a swastika and the words “[N-word] Patrol,” according to NYPD records.
Two New York City landlords rented apartments at market rate that should have been rent-stabilized, according to a pair of lawsuits the New York attorney general’s office filed yesterday.
Rex Heuermann, 62, the Long Island serial killer who pleaded guilty in April to murdering eight women in the so-called Gilgo Beach killings, is to be sentenced to life in prison today, bringing an end to a case that took investigators more than a decade to solve.
A boutique hotel group known for pioneering tourism in the pastoral Western Catskills has set its sights on one of the Hudson Valley’s most complicated downtowns: Newburgh.
For the first time since its inception, the Capital District Mayor’s Cup rivalry is leaving Albany, after a change with the “Disney on Ice” touring schedule resulted in a conflict. But the games plan to return to the city in 2028.
An Ecuadorian man accused of being in the country illegally was arrested by federal immigration officers on June 10 after City of Rensselaer police pulled him over for an alleged traffic violation.
Two veteran Times Union editors have taken on larger roles on the paper’s regional news desk.
The city may continue engaging a private lobbying firm to represent its business in state government after the contract Mayor Dorcey Applyrs signed with the Albany firm Brown & Weinraub ends on June 30.
More than a dozen horses died early yesterday when a fire tore through a Nelson Avenue, Saratoga Springs, barn used by trainers of horses at the nearby harness track, according to the lawyer for the organization that represents owners, trainers and drivers.
Plans to build a bridge to cross the Quackenderry Creek in a City of Rensselaer park got a financial boost this week with the announcement that nearly $500,000 in federal funds has been set aside for the project.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
