Alabama

Later, gator! Take a stroll through Summerdale, Alabama’s Alligator Alley – Alabama News Center

Published

1 year ago

October 23, 2024

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.

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Alabama

Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets

Published

9 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

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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Alabama

New Alabama law to set screen time limits for kids in day care, pre-K and kindergarten

Published

22 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

New Alabama law to set screen time limits for kids in day care, pre-K and kindergarten

The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act was signed on Wednesday, March 4, by Governor Kay Ivey to introduce limits on children’s screen time access in Alabama.

The Act is one of Ivey’s 2026 legislative priorities.

“Video screen access in classrooms can boost learning skills among our young children, but too much screen exposure can also be detrimental, harming critical social and cognitive development,” Ivey said. “The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act ensures our youngest students are provided a healthy balance of screen time and traditional learning in order to protect social and emotional development.”

Under the Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act, the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education will be required to work with the Department of Human Resources and the State Department of Education to develop guidelines for screen-based media.

Guidelines will be implemented in early childhood education programs like day care centers, day care homes, night care facilities, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and group day care homes. The Act was sponsored by Representative Jeana Ross and Senator Donnie Chesteen.

“House Bill 78 establishes clear, research-based expectations for how technology is used in early childhood settings,” said Ross. “The goal is not to eliminate technology, but to ensure its use is developmentally appropriate and never replaces the hands-on learning and human interaction young children need most. By setting thoughtful guardrails and aligning classroom practices with the best available research on early brain development, this legislation supports educators, protects the quality of early learning and reinforces our commitment to giving Alabama’s youngest students the strongest possible start.”

A training program will also be created by the Department of Early Childhood Education to create a baseline for the appropriate use of child screentime for teachers and staff members supervising children.

“The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act represents another important step in ensuring Alabama’s youngest children grow and learn in environments that prioritize human interaction, exploration and healthy development,” said Chesteen. “Building on the progress made with last year’s FOCUS Act, this legislation continues our commitment to protecting the most formative years of childhood. I am grateful to Governor Kay Ivey and my colleagues in the Legislature for recognizing the importance of this issue and working together to support Alabama families.”

The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act will become effective on January 1, 2027.

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Alabama

Alabama NAACP Releases 2026 Selma Jubilee Weekend Schedule

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Alabama NAACP Releases 2026 Selma Jubilee Weekend Schedule

The Alabama State Conference of the NAACP has announced its official schedule for the 2026 NAACP-sponsored Selma Jubilee Bridge Crossing Weekend, set for March 6–8 in Montgomery and Selma.

Held under the theme “A Time for Standing,” the annual commemoration honors the Foot Soldiers of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery marches and recognizes the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis and Rev. Jesse Jackson for their roles in advancing civil rights and voting access.

The three-day event will bring together national, state and local leaders, along with youth and college chapters, faith partners and community members for activities focused on reflection, education and civic engagement.

Scheduled events include a civic discussion titled “The New Civic Path” on March 6 at the Montgomery Interpretive Center at Alabama State University, followed by a Jubilee Gala that evening at Embassy Suites in Montgomery. On March 7, the Birmingham Metro Branch will host a bus trip to Selma, while a statewide civic engagement training will take place in Montgomery.

SEE ALSO: Bridge Crossing Jubilee to honor Rev. Jesse Jackson’s legacy in Selma
SEE ALSO: 16th Street Baptist Church: Keeping a Legacy Alive 63 Years Later

On March 8, participants will take part in the Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee Parade, voter activation efforts, worship services at Brown Chapel AME Church and Tabernacle Baptist Church, and the traditional bridge crossing at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Organizers say the weekend will emphasize continued civic participation and community engagement across Alabama.

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March 6 — Alabama NAACP Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee Gala 5:30PM Embassy Suites by Hilton, 300 Tallapoosa St, Montgomery, AL 36104

March 7 — NAACP Birmingham Metro Branch Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee Bus Trip 8AM–5PM Broad Street and Water Avenue in Selma Alabama

March 7 — Alabama State NAACP Statewide Civic Engagement Training 8–4:15PM Homewood Suites, 7800 EastChase Pkwy, Montgomery, AL 36117

March 8 — Alabama State NAACP in the Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee Parade 8AM–10AM Begins at 1722 Broad St and concludes at the National Voting Rights Museum

March 8 — Alabama NAACP Statewide Bridge Crossing Jubilee Bus Trip 8AM–5PM Alabama State University, Untenese and Mobile Branch and University of Alabama, Oakwood University, Broad Street and Water Avenue, Selma

March 8 — Alabama NAACP Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee Participation in Worship Services 10AM–2PM Brown Chapel AME Church and Tabernacle Baptist Church, Selma

March 8 — Alabama NAACP Youth and College Civic Engagement Voter Activation 8AM–2PM Broad Street and Water Ave, Selma

March 8 — Alabama NAACP Statewide Bridge Crossing 11:15PM – Line up Alabama NAACP Tent on Waters Ave or at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma

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