Orange Alligator?

I agree looks like he's covered in dry mud or clay.

Its Iron Oxide........

It's the orange sludge that happens frequently in Florida when a pond/canal/ditch goes stagnant/ has a vegetation die off/ or has an oxygen turnover......It stains if let sit long enough......That's all - No Hypo, no Albino, just something that happens naturally......

One picture, has not been spotted since...I agree, its likely the iron oxide mud that is very common around Florida. Its in a pond surrounded by homes and this is the first time ever seeing it?

I also doubt it could reach such a size with such a color. Its rare for true albino gators to survive to adulthood due to their lack of camouflage. They have a harder time catching prey and more importantly, are easier to spot by predators and other larger alligators.

Originally Posted by wcreptiles

Uploaded picture just in case articles go away. Looks like an external coating of some kind (iron oxide in the soil perhaps) in this picture, remember the white alligator cause by living in/around an artesian well.

Yep, I bet you're right! Good call.

Seeing the better pictures, I would agree...it's just mud!

Nokomis' orange alligator finds Texas twin

HUE HOO-HA: Submitted photo suggests color is from rusted-out culvert

By John Davis


Published: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 1:00 a.m.


A possible answer to the mystery of the orange alligator in Nokomis has surfaced, courtesy of an amateur photographer in Texas.

Retiree Jack Bodenheimer, 79, snapped a photo of a similar orange gator in 2009 at the mouth of a rusted-out culvert near Houston, presumably the source of the unusual coloring.

"I suspect there is a large steel culvert nearby that the alligator has been using for shelter," said the retired chemical engineer. "I saw the same thing in a wildlife refuge outside of Houston, Texas."

Bodenheimer sent his photo to the Herald-Tribune after reading about the Nokomis gator on the Internet.

Venice resident Sylvia Mythen's photograph last week from a nearby subdivision became a web sensation, prompting widespread news coverage and a flurry of interviews for the local retiree.

The Associated Press put the photograph on news wires and the Christian Science Monitor covered the story under the suggestive headline: "Orange alligator: Evolution or dye job?"

One article concluded it was the "world's first" orange alligator and others speculated about more exotic origins of the color than simply rust or paint.

The hubbub has been a headache for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which has been unequivocal in its explanation: the gator is not a genetic freak, but artificially colored or painted.

"People have an imagination," said agency spokesman Gary Morse. "And then what happens is they put these hoaxes out there, then we have to spend our valuable time trying to explain away that they're hoaxes."

Bodenheimer's photograph supports the point. But this has not dampened people's interest in the brightly hued creature.

"Why a story like this becomes national news, I have no idea," Morse said.


This story appeared in print on page BN1 Copyright © 2011 HeraldTribune.com — All rights reserved. Restricted use only.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article...ds-Texas-twin#

If it is colored by the iron oxide(which I do agree is the cause), I wonder why the other alligators in the same pond are not orange also.

Originally Posted by greencountryreps

If it is colored by the iron oxide(which I do agree is the cause), I wonder why the other alligators in the same pond are not orange also.

Because it is more than likely a transient Male trying to find territory for itself.......They make up seriously 98% of the Gators you see out and about........The Gators that have territory really don't make themsleves known unless they have a need to.......

DAMN LOOKS LIKE SOME ONE GOT IN A FIGHT WITH A PAINT SPRAYER LOL