The cold-blooded alligator, though, is getting through the week with an unusual method of survival.
It’s called “icing,” and it’s how alligators breathe when submerged in freezing temperatures.
While they may look dead in photos, they’re surviving — and in the middle of a fight of their lives.
What is ‘icing’?
By lowering their metabolic rates, becoming lethargic and keeping their snouts above water, alligators are able to survive brief periods of freezing weather.
As cold-blooded reptiles, alligators rely on their external environments for temperature regulation, which means cold weather is not conducive to their survival.
“The gators won’t freeze if the water stays liquid,” he said in a comment. “Their snouts are just cartilage so freezing doesn’t hurt their snouts … They can still move and are aware of things.”
Alligators aren’t the only animals with unusual survival tactics
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/19/us/alligator-snout-freeze-icing-trnd/index.html
CNN – CNN INTERNATIONAL
