A new study has revealed that alligators in the US state of Florida have been using the sewer systems to safely traverse different regions, akin to characters in the cartoon series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Although alligators finding their way into Florida’s sewer system is no surprise, this is the first time that a study has revealed the extent to which they were using the drainpipes.
“It’s like something out of ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’. The abundance of animals down there was surprising,” said Alan Ivory, a PhD student at the University of Florida who led the research, published in Urban Naturalist.
The research was centred on the stormwater sewers under the city of Gainesville with researchers installing 39 motion-activated cameras with magnetic mounts that were fastened underneath manhole covers. They were left running for 60 days but not all of them survived with a few animals ripping them apart.
“We would have raccoons steal cameras every now and then. They would climb up the ladders and tear them off the manholes,” Mr Ivory added.
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Alligators avoid crossing roads
At least seven species of reptiles were found, including the American alligator species Alligator mississippiensis “documented across the greatest number of sites”.
“Of the 5 sites, 4 of the sites where alligators were observed were simple culverts, and for this reason most of the alligator observations were of animals swimming from one pond to another (35 of 50 observations), thereby avoiding crossing busy roads,” scientists wrote.
Apart from alligators, nearly three dozen other species were also spotted using the stormwater drains as well, the study highlighted.
“In total, we documented 3798 animal detections and recorded 35 unique vertebrate species, including 12 species of birds, four species of amphibians, seven species of reptiles, and 12 species of mammals.”
Among the 35 species documented, 21 were observed within a stormwater sewer system beyond a pipe access opening. Meanwhile, nine species of birds, one amphibian species, two species of reptiles, and two species of mammals were only detected at the mouth of a stormwater sewer pipe and never within a simple culvert or complex sewer shed.
Though the study was only focused on Gainesville, scientists believe that similar species use stormwater sewers in urban areas throughout Florida.