Alabama
Later, gator! Take a stroll through Summerdale, Alabama’s Alligator Alley – Alabama News Center
For the past two decades, the alligator population in Baldwin County has been steadily growing. Eighteen miles north of Gulf Shores, Wes Moore’s 160-acre Summerdale property – home to Alligator Alley – now boasts more than 700 primitive reptile residents whose distant ancestors once roamed the planet with dinosaurs. While many were born into captivity at the site, others were “nuisance animals” relocated from around the Southeast.
“Alligators have a small brain and a large stomach, and that gets them into trouble,” says Moore, whose family has lived in Baldwin County for more than 150 years. “They have been known to borrow household pets or farm animals and not return them.”
Although rare, news of human attacks do occasionally spill onto media headlines, but Moore isn’t fond of the term “maneater.”
“Can they eat you?” he rhetorically asks. “Yes. But they prefer to live in isolated creeks and swamps. When those areas become waterfront property for humans, alligators may be labeled a nuisance and removed.”
An alligator eyes a visitor from the bank. The gators become active once the temperature gets above 60 degrees. (Nick Thomas / Alabama Living)
For the animals retired to Moore’s alligator sanctuary, the food, water and space are plentiful. While fights can still erupt between males during mating season, Moore says the higher ratio of females to males means less potential for injury than in the wild. Likewise, reduced competition for food leads to less conflict.
“Living here may extend their life expectancy by 50 percent, maybe up to 70 years,” Moore says. “Some will probably outlive me, although I hope they have nothing directly to do with that.”
While caring for hundreds of alligators is clearly a risky endeavor, Moore says he has avoided any contact with the animals’ crushing jaws since establishing Alligator Alley in 2004. But the appeal of danger is partly what drives thousands of visitors to flock to the sanctuary each year, especially eager to witness one of the three alligator feedings scheduled each day during the tourist season.
Restricted to a 60-acre area of the property with plenty of food on hand, it’s no wonder no alligator has broken out into the surrounding community. “Why would they leave?” Moore asks with a smile. “More than likely they would prefer to break in.”
Owner Wes Moore feeds chicken to one of the big gators. (Nick Thomas / Alabama Living)
Feeding time
Beginning around March, when alligators become active, some 1,000 feral pig carcasses are fed to the animals annually, many tossed into the property’s gator-infested 23-acre pond throughout the warmer months. But it’s Moore’s appearance on a golf cart in the reptiles’ territory behind the spectator chain-link fence that’s a highlight for visitors. Alighting with a cooler or two stacked with gator goodies (raw chicken pieces) and sporting a wide-brimmed straw hat, shorts and heavy boots, he inches his way cautiously between the massive 10- to 12-foot-long beasts that lumber onto the bank from the murky pond.
He calls them all by name – Shredder, Elvis, Chili Dog, Big Easy and J.W. – “which I named after a friend of mine, since they both have only four teeth left.” He even offers some a friendly pat on the snout after a chicken thigh disappears through gaping jaws, into their voluminous 55-gallon-sized stomachs.
While visitors are permitted to hold smaller alligators or walk through tortoise and snake displays, it’s the massive alligators that draw the most attention. An 1,800-foot elevated boardwalk guides visitors through the back swamp where dozens of scaly beasts chill out in the green duckweed-covered water, often eyed cautiously by their blue heron neighbors wading through the shallows.
That area is also home to 13-foot Captain Crunch, somewhere in the upper region of 40 years old. Captured by a nuisance alligator trapper near Tallahassee, Crunch holds the world record for bite force at just under 3,000 pounds. Moore can only offer an analogy of what the unlucky recipient might experience if seized by the animal’s monstrous jaws.
“If I dropped a car on you from a height of 2 feet, that’s the bone-crushing force these alligators could generate,” he says.
A visitor holds a young alligator (the jaws are always secured). (Nick Thomas / Alabama Living)
When the cool weather arrives in October, the daily feeding ritual continues for a while but with smaller portions, since the animals’ metabolism slows as they transition into brumation, a period of inactivity over winter when they avoid food for months.
Alligator Alley closes after Thanksgiving, reopening for the Christmas-to-New-Year week, then remains closed until Feb. 1. But late-winter visitors may still glimpse the residents. “If the temperature is above 60 degrees, the alligators will be out for viewing, just no real activity,” Moore says.
Originally purchased by his grandfather in 1939 for farming, the property included a cypress swamp (later expanded) that was home to an alligator called Old Joe. Young Wes was permitted to feed the fascinating creature and the thrill never left, inspiring him to eventually establish an area to protect the animals and educate the public about their role in nature.
Some whimsical signs also serve as warnings to visitors at Alligator Alley. (Nick Thomas / Alabama Living)
While Moore can appreciate an individual alligator’s nuisance factor, he says most do more good than harm.
“Although they do eat fish, they really don’t reduce the gamefish population since they prefer turtles, snakes, otters and beavers in the wild – animals you may not want in your pond anyway,” he says. “So an alligator can help manage your wetland better than you can.”
Alligator Alley is at 19950 Highway 71 in Summerdale. Phone 866-994-2867 or visit gatoralleyfarm.com for more information.
Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery and has written features, columns and interviews for numerous magazines and newspapers. His website is getnickt.org.
This story originally appeared in Alabama Living magazine.
Alabama
Southern 88-85 Alabama A&M (Mar 5, 2026) Game Recap – ESPN
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — — Terrance Dixon Jr.’s 19 points helped Southern defeat Alabama A&M 88-85 on Thursday.
Dixon shot 7 of 10 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line for the Jaguars (15-16, 11-7 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Michael Jacobs scored 15 points while going 4 of 11 and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line, and added five rebounds. AJ Barnes shot 3 for 7 (1 for 3 from 3-point range) and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points, while adding six rebounds.
Koron Davis finished with 23 points for the Bulldogs (17-14, 10-8). James Graham added 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals for Alabama A&M. Kintavious Dozier also had 12 points.
The Jaguars led by 10 points with 59 seconds to go, before the Bulldogs executed a three-point play from Bilal Abdur-Rahim then got a 3-pointer from Dozier in the span of nine seconds, cutting the deficit to four. A free throw battle closed out the result for the Jaguars.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Alabama
Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama
Jaxon Richardson, the No. 27 overall recruit in the 2026 class per the Rivals Industry Ranking, has committed to Alabama.
The 6-foot-6 four-star small forward out of Southeastern Prep (FL) ultimately chose the Crimson Tide over USC, Creighton, and Ole Miss. He also received offers from Miami, Cincinnati, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and others.
Richardson, a McDonald’s All-American, becomes the Crimson Tide’s third commitment of the 2026 cycle. He joins four-star shooting guard Qayden Samuels (No. 28 NATL) and four-star small forward Tarris Bouie (No. 54 NATL).
He’s the son of NBA veteran and two-time NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. His older brother, Jase, played for Michigan State last season before being selected 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.
More on Richardson
Rivals’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw says Richardson is one of the most explosive players in the 2026 class:
Jaxon Richardson is able to combine fluid athleticism with explosive burst in a way no other player in this class can. He uses his athleticism to his advantage on the floor. He fills the outside channels with a purpose in transition, he is aggressive in the passing lanes, and he plays as a vertical floor spacer in the dunker spots and lob plays. Last summer, playing with the Florida Rebels on Nike’s EYBL Circuit, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 12.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 10.5 attempts per game. Last high school season, he averaged 12.9 points on 61.0 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game. He is a highly efficient player, as 84.4 percent of his makes last high school season were at the rim.
Alabama
Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets
Alabama baseball cruised to a win over Alabama State on Wednesday night, beating the Hornets 13-4 to complete the season sweep. The Crimson Tide tied a program record with nine stolen bases in one of the stranger contests that will be played this season.
The tone was set for a tumultuous night on the basepaths in the opening minutes of the game. Leadoff batter Bryce Fowler, who exited Tuesday’s game after getting beaned in the head, was walked, and promptly took second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch in Justin Lebron’s at-bat, paving the way for Lebron to steal second when he was ultimately walked as well.
The successful baserunning instantly paid off, as Brady Neal drove both in with a double to left-center field before John Lemm walked two at-bats later. Both runners stole their respective bases on the same pitch in Jason Torres’ plate appearance, meaning that four of the first five batters of the game stole a base.
Alabama has been exceptional on the basepaths, sitting at 30-for-30 on the season. Lebron, who swiped two bags on Wednesday, leads the team with 12. The junior had an up-and-down night, hitting his eighth home run of the season, but also committing an error at shortstop for the fourth consecutive game.
“Get those things out of there now, baby. The dude is unbelievable,” an unconcerned Rob Vaughn said on Tuesday of Lebron’s errors. “We’re going to look up at the end of the year, and that guy is going to have five or six errors, which one he’s got right now, and we’ll be like, ‘Man, that guy is the best of all time to do it.’”
Wednesday’s game was a very prototypical midweek contest with no shortage of quirks and oddities throughout its nearly four-hour runtime. Fifteen Alabama batters were walked, falling just one shy of the program record, and the hit by pitch record was tied as seven batters were plunked.
The game was never competitive from an on-field standpoint. After barely escaping with a 2-1 win in the first matchup with the Hornets two weeks ago, this was a far more accurate representation of what these games typically look like, as Alabama now leads the all-time series 15-0.
Freshman Joe Chiarodo made his first career start, allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings. He was named the winning pitcher. Luke Smyers, Connor Lehman, Anthony Pesci and Tate Robertson were the other pitchers to take the mound. Lehman allowed a three-run blast in the sixth inning, and those were the only runs until the incredibly-named Skywalker Mann drove in a run off Robertson in the ninth.
Perhaps the most shocking figure from the game was that Alabama had 19 runners left on base. The Crimson Tide left the bases loaded in four different innings. As stated, this was just a bizarre baseball game across the board. With the midweeks out of the way, the Crimson Tide gets to prepare for its final weekend tune-up before SEC play as North Florida heads into Tuscaloosa on Friday.
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