In steamy Texas summers, alligators slither through the swamps and lakes, sometimes scaring suburban Dallas residents.
What about winter? They’re freezing, literally.
A video posted online showed footage of several alligators at Gator Country in Beaumont completely submerged in the freezing water except for their noses floating above the ice to breathe.
Gary Surage, co-owner of Alligator Rescue, explained in the video that an alligator takes about one breath every minute when it freezes. They slow your heart rate to three beats per minute.
“We know how to deal with floods. We know how to deal with hurricanes.” “But folks, this is what’s really hard on crocodiles.”
For the record, Beaumont, located about 130 kilometers east of Houston, wasn’t just cold. The temperature dropped to 11 degrees Fahrenheit (-11 degrees Celsius) Wednesday morning, the coldest the city has seen in nearly 120 years, according to the National Weather Service.