Everyone knows following an American alligator into heavily vegetated swamps is not a good idea.

So scientists have come up with an alternative to studying the alligators' behavior: strapping National Geographic Crittercams to the reptiles' backs.

A new study—conducted on Merritt Island (map), a barrier island near Cape Canaveral, Florida—has given researchers a whole new look into the everyday lives of these elusive predators.

The use of Crittercams is an improvement on previous research techniques, which included analyzing alligators' stomach contents to determine what they ate, observing alligators during the day, or watching them in captivity to figure out their hunting patterns.

The Crittercam results reveal that alligators are prolific hunters: "They're attacking something once every two hours," said study leader