Overview

• Alligators in North Carolina and Texas have been spotted submerged under ice, with just their snouts poking out to breathe, a survival technique known as brumation.
• Brumation is a state of inactivity prompted by low temperatures, similar to hibernation in mammals, but reptiles in brumation occasionally stir their body to drink water and go without food for months.
• During brumation, alligators instinctively tilt their nose up, to the point where it's out of the water, so they don't suffocate.
• Alligators in brumation become lethargic and have a slowed metabolic rate.
• Brumation behaviors greatly depend on how extreme and long the cold temperatures persist in the environment.