American Alligators are most at home in rivers, swamps, wetlands and lakes. They enjoy a diet of fish, frogs, birds, mammals and invertebrates. Their sharp teeth capture prey, and their strong jaws are powerful enough to crack a turtle’s shell. As cold-blooded reptiles, alligators have to protect themselves from extreme heat or cold. They do this by digging and burrowing into tunnels as deep as 65 feet!

This supersized frog can reach as much as 8 inches in length and leaps up to 6 feet in a single jump. The bullfrog lays an incredible 12,000 to 20,000 eggs at one time! Preferring warm, calm, shallow water, the bullfrog eats crayfish, beetles, snails, dragonfly larvae, fish and even other frogs. Many species eat bullfrogs, including raccoons, snakes, egrets, turtles, great blue herons, belted kingfishers.

Known for their characteristic “knees,” which protrude above the ground, cypress trees can live for hundreds of years. They thrive in forested wetlands like ours and play an important role in soaking up floodwaters and preventing erosion. Cypress cones, which look like nuts, are eaten by many birds and squirrels. These trees also provide a home to many species, from the fish and amphibians who breed in the protection of their base to the birds who nest in their tops.

These iridescent bugs are actually viewed as a key indicator of the health of marshes, swamps and rivers because of their key role in the food chain. They eat small bugs and larvae, including pests like mosquitoes. In turn, many birds and amphibians eat dragonflies. These insects have a particularly fascinating flying ability: they can hover in one place, fly extremely fast and even fly backwards!

These floating, flowering plants provide many benefits in wetlands. Their flowers bloom in the daytime and close at night. Their pollen feeds insects while fish, ducks and animals like beavers and deer eat their leaves and fruit. The round, flat leaves of water lilies cover the water surface, shading the water and keeping it cool. The leaves also hide fish seeking shelter from birds.

These 3-foot-tall birds flock to forested wetland ponds, swamps and marshes. They walk slowly through the wetland with their bills in the water to feel for prey. When fish or other aquatic species come along they can snap their bill shut in as little as 25 milliseconds and swallow the prey whole. Wood storks live in flocks called rookeries and nest in trees above the water. A federally threatened species, each breeding pair of wood storks requires about 440 pounds of fish per breeding season! When a rookery is located in a Rayonier forest, it is protected in a buffer zone.