The affected alligators are currently emerging from brumation - similar to hibernation in mammals - and over the past few months, these factors have led them to appear orange to onlookers.

He watched in awe as he saw an orange alligator emerge from the water. I know what you are thinking. What? There are orange alligators? The simple answer is yes, although it may not be what you think.

But when he spotted a 9-foot alligator the color of a pumpkin from his back porch, Krieger knew he had to grab his camera. “Sure enough, it was one of these orange gators, and it was a very ...

Sometimes, the orange color comes from rusty pipes or metals the alligator is brumating near. Krieger said the soil in his neighborhood has a lot of clay, and it features dozens of ponds and ...

Wildlife photographer Dan Krieger captured a rare orange alligator in Little River, South Carolina. These alligators undergo brumation during the winter, which stains their scales an unusual ...

Wildlife photographer Dan Krieger captured a rare picture of an orange alligator in his Little River neighborhood on Feb. 9, 2025. Dan Krieger https://www ...

An orange-tinted alligator basking in the sun on Feb. 7, 2025 in Little River, South Carolina. (D A Krieger Photography) It turns out this was just a seasonal scale color change for the alligator ...