If you’ve ever spent a day in the Everglades, on a golf course, or even spent time driving down our Florida roads, you’ve most likely had an encounter with one of Florida’s biggest tourist attractions, an alligator. These dinosaur-like creatures have roamed our earth for around 200 million years. However, there is another animal in the same order, Crocodilia, that calls our wonderful state its home. 

This animal, the crocodile, looks very similar to our state’s icon. These very similar animals have brought the troubling issue of confusing residents and tourists alike. How do I know if the animal over there is an Alligator or a Crocodile? Luckily for us non-experts, there are some easy ways to tell the two apart from one another.

The easiest way to tell the two apart is by their distinct snouts. An alligator has a very distinct u-shaped snout, while a crocodile has a very thin snout. The other way to be able to tell the difference is the color of them. Crocodiles are lighter gray, green, and brown. The alligator is the same colors but a darker shade of them. 

These animals both grow to massive sizes, however, crocodiles grow slightly larger. Alligators are smaller than crocodiles, with males growing to be around 12 to 13 feet long and 1,0000 pounds. The females are slightly smaller, being 8 to 10 feet long and 500-800 pounds at the largest. The American crocodile trumps this, running around 15 to 17 feet with a maximum of 20 feet long. The saltwater crocodile is even larger, running 23 feet long!

The crocodile is by far more aggressive than alligators, they are opportunistic and will attack humans. While their close relative, the alligator tends to be shy and rarely attacks humans. This added to the crocodile’s impressive bite strength, making them a scary predator. Crocodiles are evolved for tearing their prey, making their bite much stronger than the alligator. 

These animals are all around us and are a part of our daily lives. It is important to remember that as long as we give these creatures space and watch our surroundings, we are most likely safe from becoming someone’s lunch!