It's no secret. It's fucking frigid outside right now.
Winter is all the way here and major blizzards and "bomb cyclones" have blanketed much of the East Coast with snow and covered the roads with ice. For many, this translates to wearing six layers of clothing outside and notching one hour and a boat load of stress onto your morning commute. But what about the animals that have to survive the blistery temperatures too? In this viral video from Shallotte River Swamp Park in North Carolina, alligators are attempting to handle the changes to their natural habitat.
The cold temperatures have caused the pond they live in to freeze over. So, the alligators are frozen in place with their snouts poking out of the ice to be able to continue to breathe. While this is a common thing, it is still creepy as hell to see for the first time. Alive or not, seeing a motionless alligator's snout popping out of a frozen over pond looks more like a scene out of a B-grade horror film than a natural occurrence.
The bizarre practice is apparently called brumation, a form of hibernation that allows alligators to regulate their body temperatures no matter the weather conditions, according to a report by the Bradenton Herald. The report also states that the Shallotte River Swamp Park where the video was filmed is a 65-acre sanctuary for "dozens" of rescued alligators in captivity.
Pretty crazy. If only it were so easy for all of us to get through the snowy and icy mess until it all melts away in a few days.
