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the-core-of · 3 months

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Alligator Body Language and You, or: How To Know When An Alligator On Social Media is Being Stressed for Views

Alligators are wild animals. Despite the idiotic claims of animal abusers like Jay Brewer, they cannot be domesticated, which means they are always going to react on the same natural instincts they've had for millions of years. Habituated, yes. Tamed, yes. Trained, definitely. Crocodilians can form bonds with people- they're social and quite intelligent. They can solve problems, use tools, and they're actually quite playful. Alligators are also really good at communicating how they're feeling, but to somebody who doesn't spend much time around them, their body language can be a bit mystifying. And it doesn't help when social media influencers are saying shit like this:

That is not what a happy gator looks like.

That's a terrified, furious gator who isn't attacking because the ogre handling her has her in a chokehold. She's doing everything she can to express her displeasure, and he's lying about it because he knows his audience doesn't even know how to think critically about what he's doing. He knows that because his audience doesn't know anything about these animals, he can get away with it. This I think is why I hate him so much- he deliberately miseducates his audience. He knows what he's doing is factually inaccurate, he just doesn't care because attention means more to him than anything else in the world.

Let's change that! Here are two really important lessons for understanding alligator body language on social media.

Lesson 1: Alligators Don't Smile (in fact, most animals don't)

So what's going on in this video? Jay Brewer is aggressively choking his white alligator Coconut while scrubbing algae off of her with a toothbrush. And make no mistake, he is digging into the creature's throat while she is visibly distressed. He claims she's happy- but she's not. He is willfully misrepresenting what this animal is feeling. That's a problem, because people... well, we actually kind of suck at reading other species' body language. The reason for this is that we tend to overlay our own responses on their physical cues, and that's a problem. For example, let's look at an animal with a really similar face to ours, the chimpanzee. Check out Ama's toothy grin!

Wait, no. That's not a happy smile. That's a threat display. When a chimpanzee "smiles," it's either terrified and doing a fear grimace, or it's showing you its teeth because it intends on using them in your face.

How about a dog? Look at my smiling, happy puppy!

Oh wait no, this is a picture of Ryder when he was super overwhelmed by noise and people during a holiday party. He'd hopped up in my sister's lap to get away from stuff that was happening on the floor and was panting quite heavily. See the tension in the corners of his mouth and his eyes? A lot of the time when a dog "smiles," the smile isn't happy. It's stress! Why Animals Do The Thing has a nice writeup about that, but the point is, our body language is not the same as other species. And for reptiles, body language is wildly different.

For instance, look at these two alligators. Pretty cute, right? Look at 'em, they're posing for a Christmas card or something! How do you think they're feeling?

Well, I'll tell you how the normal one is feeling. He's annoyed! Why is he annoyed? Because the albino just rolled up, pushed another gator off the platform, and is trying to push this guy, too. I know this because I actually saw it happen. It was pretty funny, not gonna lie. He's not gaping all the way, but he was hissing- you can actually see him getting annoyed in the sequence I took right before this shot. Look at him in this first shot here- he's just relaxing, and you can see he isn't gaping even a little bit.

By the end, he's expressing displeasure, but not enough to actually do anything about it. He's annoyed, but he's comfy and that's where one of the best basking areas is, so he'll put up with it.

Reptiles open their mouths wide for a lot of reasons, but never because they are actively enjoying a sensation. Unless they're eating. No reptile smiles- they can't. They don't even have moveable lips. If a reptile is gaping, it's doing so because:

It is doing a threat display.

It is making certain vocalizations, all of which are threats. Alligators are one of the rare reptiles that do regularly vocalize, but most of their calls aren't made with a wide open mouth.

It is about to bite something delicious or somebody stupid. Check out this video- virtually all of the gaping here is anticipatory because these trained gators know darn well that the bowl is full of delicious snacks. (I have some issues with Florida's Wildest, but the man knows how to train a gator AND he is honest about explaining what they're doing and why, and all of his animals are healthy and well-cared for, and he doesn't put the public or his staff at risk- just himself.)

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It's too hot and it has opened its mouth to vent some of that heat and thermoregulate. This is the main reason why alligators will often have their mouths part of the way open, but sometimes they'll open all the way for thermoregulation. This is what a thermoregulatory gape looks like- usually it's not all the way open, kinda more like < rather than V, but you can't say that 100% of the time. Additionally, a thermoregulatory gape... typically happens when it's hot out. If they're inside, maybe they've been under their basking light for too long. Heat's the dominant factor, is what I'm getting at.

There is another reason that a captive crocodilian might be gaping, and that's because it's doing so on command. Some places have their gators trained to gape on cue, like St. Augustine Alligator Farm and other good zoos. They have the animals do this in presentations that are genuinely educational. They ask the animals to open their mouths so that they can show off their teeth and demonstrate how their tongues seal off the back of their mouth. They'll also do it as part of routine healthcare, because looking at their teeth is important.

In this case, the animals aren't gaping because they're stressed, they're gaping because they know they're gonna get a piece of chicken or fish if they do it. And what's more, they're doing it on cue. They have a specific command or signal that tells them to open wide. It's not an instinctive response to a situation. It's trained. If the animal provides the behavior after a cue, the situation is much less likely to be negatively impactful.

It's also important to remember that there's a difference between a partially open mouth and a gape! As discussed above, alligators will often have their mouths a little bit open just to maintain temperature homeostasis. It helps them stay comfy, temperature-wise. These guys are all doing thermoregulatory open-mouthed behavior- that slight open and relaxed body posture is a dead giveaway. (That and it's the hottest spot in the enclosure.)

Lesson 2: A Happy Gator Is A Chill Gator

So if alligators don't smile or have facial expressions other than the :V that typically signifies distress, how else can you tell how they're feeling? One way is stillness. See, alligators subscribe to the philosophy of if it sucks... hit da bricks.

Basically, if they hate it, they'll leave. Unless, y'know, somebody has their meaty claws digging into their throat or is otherwise restraining them. (Restraint isn't always bad, btw. Sometimes the animal is going through a medical thing or needs to be restrained for their safety- which a responsible educator will explain.)

Let's look at a very similar scenario, in which a captive alligator is getting his back scrubbed.

As you can see, it's quite different. First, he's not being restrained at all. Second, look at how relaxed he is! He's just chilling there vibing! He could simply get up and leave if he wanted to, because he's not being held. Towards the end of the video, as he lifts his head, you can see that his respiratory rate is very even as his throat flutters a bit. I'm not sure what this facility is, so I can't comment on care/general ethics, but like. In this specific case, this is an alligator enjoying being scrubbed! And you can tell because he's not doing anything. A happy gator is content to be doing what they're doing.

Why Should I Listen To You?

Now, you should ask yourself, why should you listen to me? Why should you trust me, who does not own an alligator, versus Jay Brewer, who owns several?

Well, first off, there's no profit for me in telling you that what you're seeing on social media is in fact not what you're being told you're seeing. I'm not getting paid to do this. That's the thing with people who make social media content. The big names aren't doing it just for fun. They're doing it for money. Whether that's profit through partnerships or sponsorships, or getting more people to visit their facilities, or ad revenue, you can't ignore the factor of money. And this is NOT a bad thing, because it allows educators to do what they're passionate about! People deserve to be paid for the work that they do!

But the problem starts when you chase the algorithm instead of actually educating. A "smiling" alligator gets the views, and if people don't know enough to know better, it keeps getting the views. People love unconventional animal stories and they want those animals to be happy- but the inability to even know where to start with critically evaluating these posts really hinders the ability to spread real information. Like, this post will probably get a couple hundred notes, but that video of Coconut being scrubbed had almost 400,000 likes when I took that screenshot. Think about how many eyeballs that's reached by now. What I'm saying here is that it's just... really important to think critically about who you're getting your information from. What do dissenters say in the comments? What do other professionals say? You won't find a single herpetologist that has anything good to say about Prehistoric Pets, I can tell you that right now.

Another reason you can trust me is that my sources are not "just trust me bro," or "years of experience pretending my pet shop where animals come to die is a real zoo." Instead, here are my primary sources for my information on alligator behavior:

Dragon Songs: Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations- Vladimir Dinets

The Secret Social Lives of Reptiles- J. Sean Doody, Vladimir Dinets, Gordon M. Burghardt

Social Behavior Deficiencies in Captive American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)- Z Walsh, H Olson, M Clendening, A Rycyk

Social Displays of the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)- Kent Vliet

Social Signals and Behaviors of Adult Alligators and Crocodiles- Leslie Garrick, Jeffery Lang

Never smile at a crocodile: Gaping behaviour in the Nile crocodile at Ndumo Game Reserve, South Africa- Cormac Price, Mohamed Ezat, Céline Hanzen, Colleen Downs (this one's Nile crocs, not American alligators, but it's really useful for modeling an understanding of gape behaviors and proximity)

Thermoregulatory Behavior of Captive American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)- Cheryl S. Asa, Gary D. London, Ronald R. Goellner, Norman Haskell, Glenn Roberts, Crispen Wilson

Unprovoked Mouth Gaping Behavior in Extant Crocodylia- Noah J. Carl, Heather A. Stewart, Jenny S. Paul

Thank you for reading! Here's a very happy wild alligator from Sanibel for your trouble.

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the-core-of · 10 months

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This is an excellent video review on the themes of the show and has a far better explanation of it than I could ever.

This is what I think the fans I’ve seen of the show forget sometimes.

This isn’t built like a traditional cartoon.

This isn’t made for there to be a hero to route for and a villain to stop.

There is no easy out.

There is no happy ending.

There is no justice.

There is no right thing to do. (I mean, other than quit the game)

You are not gonna have characters blatantly exploit growth or even say it aloud, unless it’s a confessional. You are not gonna have moral lessons at the end of every episode.

Especially in the show’s environment.

It’s a reality show hosted by a sociopath obsessed with their image. These people have to adjust to the system of playing a game, or face walking off an island (or jump out of a plane, depending on the season) kissing their dreams goodbye.

All these teens wanted was recognition in a fame hungry world, and the harshness of the setting was just the tip of the iceberg on how brutal and psychologically torturing fame is.

It’s not just the game aspect. It’s the mentality of it all.

These kids have to play a part they’ve been given, or suffer the consequences, or heck, you could play your role perfectly and the producers will abandon you anyway just because you’re not ‘popular enough’ or ‘better ratings’.

The 'villains’ of the show, if you really think about it, are only villains because the show frames them that way and only shows their bad moments. And they’re given the label because they have certain strategies to commit to the game.

Or they’re Courtney and they tick off the producers with lawsuits.

More often than most other cartoons aimed at kids, you’ll have characters rewarded for doing bad things, and you’ll have good hearted characters punished for no good reason.

Heather lies, schemes, and manipulates people’s relationships for her own selfish gain, and she’s rewarded with immunity and a higher spot in the competition.

Courtney, in season three, threatens to murder someone and constantly tries to make their life miserable, and she’s rewarded with the satisfaction of being the one to kick them out of the game. (You know what I’m talking about, those who’ve seen World Tour)

Duncan bullies Harold, manipulates the friends and loves of his life, treats them horribly, and constantly breaks the rules meant to protect people just because he feels like it, and he’s COMPLETELY rewarded in season two, AND gets two relationships that last for about a year.

In fact, I don’t think his bad consequences catch up to him until the end of his time on the show, which is arguably deserved.

Owen is a good hearted soul who just wants to be friends with people, and he’s punished with hospitality, a forced mole role by the producers, and harassment and abandonment from the people he wanted to be friends with in the first place.

Gwen is trying to be the best she can and stick to herself and stay in her comfort zone, and she’s punished with deception, manipulation, broken friendships, broken relationships, all of which blame HER and no one else involved, bullying, being outcasted by her peers, a villain archetype the show slaps on her, and the entire IN UNIVERSE fandom of the show HATE HER GUTS.

Honestly, Gwen is probably the biggest social punching bag of the entire show and it makes me sad to watch :( .

That’s not bad writing. That’s how the world works, and that’s the brutal truth.

In terms of 'character derailment’, that is in multiple comments here, while I do agree with some characters like Leshawna and Trent, others I think act differently from Season One because of the show’s torture on them twisting their morality.

They’re all victims, at the end of the day, and turn into messed up immoral people.

The first three seasons of the show, in my eyes, is a commentary of what fame and TV can do to people, especially targeting the young crowd who consume the media.

The show itself is how we even got Sierra (and that’s not a compliment).

We are not meant to watch these characters get justice, we are meant to watch them suffer and get screwed up in the head. The show makes you want to AVOID fame and be disgusted by the idea of risking your life for money and constantly being on camera.

Yes we have characters we route for in the show, yes we have characters we want to see out, and yes the game aspect is fun, but that’s what the show feeds off of. Our expectation that there is a scripted sense of justice and happiness to those who deserve it.

But because these are real people and not heroes or villains, that becomes a grey are and becomes drama for the lot of us who have different POVS, like with shipping, or elimination orders, or other stuff.

This is also why I can’t get into the seasons after season three, and why I only really talk about the first three seasons.

(Ridonculous Race is a good show, but it also carries what I say here)

The seasons completely miss that point and forget about this, ripping this moral ambiguity out in favor of safe kids content that has a sense of right or wrong and justice.

Because I guess they thought moral ambiguity was too complex for a kid to understand or was too harsh for them?

Or because half of the fandom didn’t like certain risky and controversial plotlines in seasons 2 and 3?

I don’t know.

From there, Post World Tour of Total Drama doesn’t become a commentary of reality competition and a study on it’s psychological torture, it just becomes a reality competition in cartoon form with zany stereotypes and crass humor.

They play everything completely straight and take no risks.

In All Stars, they pretty much bail out of every plotline World Tour had, most likely in an attempt to make no one mad! (It didn’t work)

There is little substance to be had in the later seasons, and whatever good plotlines there are, are also plotlines you could find in any other cartoon.

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