Hobbies And Interests
Death Roll
Because their snouts are long and narrow, crocodiles are expertly designed to eat their main food source, fish, whole. They don't chew their food. So small fish and other small animals are the easiest prey for crocodiles to eat, but they eat larger animals when they can. To help them eat and digest those larger animals, crocodiles use the death roll, which consists of a few elements. First crocodiles drown the prey. Then they clamp the dead animal and roll with it in water, tearing off chunks of the animal to eat. If the animal has a tough hide, the crocodiles may find a place underwater to store it until the hide is soft enough to rip apart so they can eat the rest of the animal.
Mechanics
The mechanics of the death roll take advantage of key and unusual physical characteristics that crocodiles developed. For example, their teeth are blunt, which allows them to hold onto their prey instead of piercing through the prey's skin, and it enables them to maintain their hold throughout a struggle. They also developed two important flaps. One covers their nostrils, preventing water from entering their lungs when they are underwater. The other flap is at the back of their throat and allows them to keep their mouths open during the death roll without drowning.
Diet
Crocodiles are purely carnivorous. Young crocodiles don't normally perform the death roll because they generally subsist on small crabs, fish, frogs and insects. As they grow larger, though, so do their food sources. Adult crocodiles eat whatever they come across, including large fish, turtles, birds, mammals and even each other, and they use the death roll for those prey.
U.S. Crocodiles
The American crocodile is the only crocodile native to the United States, and its habitat range is restricted to the southern tip of Florida. It lives in areas where freshwater and saltwater mix, such as river estuaries, coastal lagoons and mangrove swamps. Unlike their closest American relative, the alligator, American crocodiles need water to remain above or near 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Typically, American crocodiles are not as aggressive as other kinds of crocodiles, and they're rarely seen by humans.