Photo of the Day
American alligator adjusting the egges in her nest.
January 30, 2009
Alligator, Florida Everglades
Despite 70-odd teeth and a notoriously nasty bite, a female alligator in Florida's Everglades National Park demonstrates a delicate touch when the time comes for her eggs to hatch. Gently grasping an egg in her mouth, she rolls it on her tongue, feeling for signs of life. If she senses something stirring, she cracks the egg open, then tilts her head forward to let the baby emerge.
(Photo shot on assignment for "Everglades: Dying for Help," April 1994, National Geographic magazine)
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