2006 39c Am. Alligator, Largest Reptile
# 4033 - 2006 39c Am. Alligator, Largest Reptile
$2.95
U.S. #4033
American Alligator
Wonders of America
American Alligator
Wonders of America
Issue Date: May 27, 2006
City: Washington, DC
Quantity Issued: 204,000,000
Printed by: Avery Dennison
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforation: Serpentine die cut 10 ¾
Color: Multicolored
City: Washington, DC
Quantity Issued: 204,000,000
Printed by: Avery Dennison
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforation: Serpentine die cut 10 ¾
Color: Multicolored
The largest reptile in North America, the American alligator has a 230-million-year history. The large, lizard-like animals have short, strong legs and long, powerful tails.
Alligators live along the edges of bodies of water, such as lakes, swamps, creeks, and rivers, in the southeastern U.S. When grown, they range from about 6 to 12 feet long, with the tail taking up half of the length.
Alligators feed mainly on fishes, small mammals, and birds. Large males sometimes attack dogs, pigs, or even cattle, but usually avoid man. Alligators’ powerful jaws can crack cattle bones, but if the jaws are shut, they can be held closed with little force.
The female alligator builds a piled nest of mud and wet vegetation in which she lays about 20 to 70 hard-shelled eggs. The temperature of the nest determines the gender of the hatchlings. The young emerge from the eggs in about nine weeks, and the mother protects them for about a year. For the first six years of their lives, alligators grow about one foot longer each year.
American alligators can live 35 to 50 years in the wild. Once hunted extensively for their hides, alligators were given protected status from 1967 to 1987. Since 1967, they have made an excellent recovery.
U.S. #4033
American Alligator
Wonders of America
American Alligator
Wonders of America
Issue Date: May 27, 2006
City: Washington, DC
Quantity Issued: 204,000,000
Printed by: Avery Dennison
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforation: Serpentine die cut 10 ¾
Color: Multicolored
City: Washington, DC
Quantity Issued: 204,000,000
Printed by: Avery Dennison
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforation: Serpentine die cut 10 ¾
Color: Multicolored
The largest reptile in North America, the American alligator has a 230-million-year history. The large, lizard-like animals have short, strong legs and long, powerful tails.
Alligators live along the edges of bodies of water, such as lakes, swamps, creeks, and rivers, in the southeastern U.S. When grown, they range from about 6 to 12 feet long, with the tail taking up half of the length.
Alligators feed mainly on fishes, small mammals, and birds. Large males sometimes attack dogs, pigs, or even cattle, but usually avoid man. Alligators’ powerful jaws can crack cattle bones, but if the jaws are shut, they can be held closed with little force.
The female alligator builds a piled nest of mud and wet vegetation in which she lays about 20 to 70 hard-shelled eggs. The temperature of the nest determines the gender of the hatchlings. The young emerge from the eggs in about nine weeks, and the mother protects them for about a year. For the first six years of their lives, alligators grow about one foot longer each year.
American alligators can live 35 to 50 years in the wild. Once hunted extensively for their hides, alligators were given protected status from 1967 to 1987. Since 1967, they have made an excellent recovery.