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cab67

(3,848 posts)
13. Often, yes.
Sun May 17, 2026, 08:14 PM
Sunday

Much depends on how much time has elapsed between sightings. They shed and replace teeth throughout their lives, so two different sightings of a gator of a particular size, missing a specific tooth in the maxilla (lower teeth are harder to assess unless the jaws are open), are likely to be of the same gator.

There may be other identifying features, e.g. healed wounds on the snout, missing scales (esp. the larger ones along the top of the tail).

It would also be highly unlikely to see more than one large gator far from water.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Can they be identified as different individuals? efhmc Sunday #1
What do you mean? LetMyPeopleVote Sunday #4
For instance, if I saw this one last week, can I or will I be able to id it as the same specimen? efhmc Sunday #7
Often, yes. cab67 Sunday #13
I really prefer not to get close enough to check out their teeth. Thanks anyway. efhmc Sunday #16
binoculars are adequate for larger gators. cab67 Sunday #17
Gators can outrun a person easily The Blue Flower Sunday #2
Well that is scary. efhmc Sunday #8
Not entirely true. cab67 Sunday #10
Very interesting. Thank you. efhmc Sunday #12
for once... cab67 Sunday #14
I am in central (right wing) Texas but was in Houston for many years. I miss it so very much. I miss the diversity, the efhmc Sunday #15
Thank you for this information LetMyPeopleVote Monday #18
You want to keep your distance LetMyPeopleVote Monday #20
This is something of an urban legend. cab67 17 hrs ago #21
I agree that the real danger is if the lunges at you LetMyPeopleVote 15 hrs ago #23
This is true. cab67 14 hrs ago #24
It's gator breeding season, they're just out looking for a good time. sop Sunday #3
Back when my kids were in scouting, we camped at a park full of gators LetMyPeopleVote Sunday #5
Well, aren't we all but my idea of doing that is reading about other folk's doing the looking. efhmc Sunday #9
Is he big ENOUGH? Maybe needs to chow down on a Greg Abbott or Ken Paxton---don't ya think? hlthe2b Sunday #6
What to do? Norrrm Sunday #11
My daughter used to ride horses in Sienna - TBF Monday #19
This was on the local ABC station last night LetMyPeopleVote 15 hrs ago #22
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