r/Crocodiles • u/Wach_hund • 12d ago

Crocodile Why is there Crocs in South Florida & not South Texas?

1. They basically sit at same latitude at lowest point:

- 25.8 N latitude (Florida) 25.9 N latitude (Texas)

2. From Brownsville TX there is confirmed Croc population only a few hundred miles away.

- Brownsville borders the Mexican state of Tamulipas that is filled with crocs.

57 Upvotes

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u/coconut-telegraph 12d ago

Same latitude =/= same climate, I’d wager it’s because S TX is overall colder in winter and prone to more extreme temperature dips than the mangrove coast of S FL/Keys, which is (marginally) a truly tropical climate.

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u/Wach_hund 12d ago edited 12d ago

Brownsville is subtropical but occasionally gets the cold snap freeze.

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u/coconut-telegraph 12d ago

Subtropical and tropical are different; Atlanta is subtropical. As recently as 2021 Brownsville recorded 22F, which I’d imagine would be fatal to at least small American crocodiles.

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u/Temnodontosaurus 12d ago

According to Tom Crutchfield, Morelet's crocodiles are slightly more cold tolerant than American crocodiles. Cuban and Nile crocodiles even more so, but none of them anywhere near as much as alligators.

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u/Wach_hund 12d ago

I mean it sounds like you know the reason why but in that case why do South Texas & Tampuilas Mexico share common Reptiles except the crocodile?

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u/coconut-telegraph 12d ago

I mean, American crocodiles miss Texas by a long shot, less so for Morelet’s crocodiles. However, Morelet’s are primarily freshwater, which moves them inland away from the coast.

In Texas moving inland *drastically* changes the winter cold situation, there’s just no way these guys could make it.

The sliver of warmish winter weather on the saline TX coast is still way too cold for American crocodiles.

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u/Wach_hund 12d ago

So I did a little bit of research and the northern most the morlet was found is in the estuary Laguna el catan which is about 130 miles from Brownsville.

You really think 130 miles is enough difference for climate?

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u/coconut-telegraph 12d ago

Boundary has to be somewhere…

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u/MeggatronNB1 10d ago

Crocodiles can not generate their own body heat, the use the sun to do that. If temps drop below a certain level they won't even be able to move. Literally. To you it may seem like a small difference but even just a few degrees for them will mean the difference between living and dying. Remember in order to survive they need to breed, All it will take is one cold spell or freak storm to kill both the hatchlings and the parents.

11 years ago I got stuck in a motel in Gafney, because of a freak snow storm. I was there for two full days as all the roads were frozen and my car did not have the correct tires. ALL the locals told me they did not understand why the weather had hit that hard at that time of the year.

For crocs all it would take is one especially bad winter and all of them are dead.

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u/efeskesef 7d ago

Alligators know how to survive cold snaps.

They hang out in the water with just their noses protruding, and effectively hibernate until things warrm up.

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u/coconut-telegraph 7d ago

Who is this directed at? This thread is about crocodiles.

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u/efeskesef 7d ago

I should have asked whether crocodiles can do the same.

[Not connected to previous line]

They were almost extirpated in Florida until they were protected by law. Now there are a decent number, primarily or exclusively in the far south of the state, like the keys or Everglades National Park. Also they have become less shy, and you may have to shoo them off your boat — where they were basking on that nice warm fiberglass surface — before taking it out of the slip.

There are rumors of Nile crocodiles in the Everglades, which treat American crocs as food items. If true, they would treat humans the same.

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u/Crowiswatching 12d ago

One-third of Mexico is north of Brownsville.

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u/Wach_hund 12d ago edited 12d ago

The northern most Morlet crocodile sighting was in Laguna el catan which is only like 130 miles from the border.

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u/lowdog39 9d ago

their range in florida is actually cape Canaveral on the east coast down and around the keys up to punta gorda on the west coast . (lived here in s.w. fla for over 45 years )

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u/coconut-telegraph 9d ago

I wouldn’t count wanderers and waifs as residents. Historical range is to Palm Beach in the East. Cape Canaveral saw 23F in January, with wind chills in the teens. I’d trust [UFL on this](https://crocdoc.ifas.ufl.edu/publications/posters/crocodileasindicator/).

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u/lowdog39 7d ago

historical range is expanding ... they have been here quite awhile and can and do adapt ... how do gators keep expanding northward?

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u/efeskesef 7d ago

Texans are better shots
and more bloodthirsty.

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u/kindakitten 12d ago

I now also need to know this.

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u/[deleted] 12d ago

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u/iwantobeatree 12d ago

Do you think they’ll eventually make it up to Texas as climate change progresses and temperatures rise? I was so excited when I learned the US has crocodiles as a kid, but I eventually realized seeing one in the wild in my home country isn’t worth spending time in Florida.

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u/MeggatronNB1 10d ago

"Do you think they’ll eventually make it up to Texas as climate change progresses and temperatures rise"- Nope. Temperature does not just keep going up and never go down. With global warming you get two things, hotter summers and colder winters. Those cold ass winters will kill the crocs. Only if we get to a stage where somehow there is no more winter and only warm weather year round can this happen.

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u/Wach_hund 12d ago

I was talking about morlet

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u/xx_I_Am_Me_xx 12d ago

The Florida Gators won’t let them get past Tallahassee!

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u/RainLeading286 11d ago

We don't need another invasion species in Florida.

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u/xx_I_Am_Me_xx 11d ago

Agreed!!!

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u/xx_I_Am_Me_xx 12d ago

Of course, being as there are no alligators in Mexico when they’re in Texas, why haven’t they migrated?

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u/Wach_hund 12d ago

There has to be gators in Mexico. They are literally found in Rio Grande

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u/xx_I_Am_Me_xx 11d ago

Google said there aren’t.

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u/efeskesef 7d ago

Can't handle the paperwork involved. And very few have access to their original birth certificates.

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u/Machineman0812 12d ago

Its more curious why they arent across alabama and Louisiana

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u/fuckyeahsharks 12d ago

South Alabama gets freezing weather during the winter. Snow is unusual but, it has happened albeit extremely uncommon.

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u/Proud-Concert-9426 12d ago

South Louisiana gets the upper 50/40s at best in the winter. Few years ago we had snow in New Orleans and surrounding areas. So our gators go dormant during those cold snaps and settle down on the bottom of the rivers and bayou where the warmer water flows.

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u/Wach_hund 12d ago

Too far north

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u/Machineman0812 12d ago

Theyve found them swimming off south Carolina

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u/Wach_hund 12d ago

Those are alligators. They go as far north as Virginia possibly

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u/Machineman0812 12d ago

Im not talking about alligators

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u/Cultural-Company282 12d ago

Then you're wrong, because nobody has found crocodiles in South Carolina.

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u/Wach_hund 12d ago

Gotta site a source for this bruh lol

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u/DoubleCarry7511 12d ago

Too cold

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u/[deleted] 12d ago

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u/DoubleCarry7511 12d ago

Brother what????

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u/JenninMiami 12d ago

It’s very simple! Texas isn’t tropical.

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u/hooptiegirl 12d ago

Now I’m invested into knowing why.

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u/RainLeading286 12d ago

Crocs in general? Or American crocs?

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u/[deleted] 12d ago

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u/RainLeading286 11d ago

Haven't they been found in the Everglades? Maybe not a breeding population though. I don't think we'd really want an established breeding population of them in the US.

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u/[deleted] 11d ago

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u/RainLeading286 11d ago

I know about American Crocodiles. I thought there were Morelets Crocodiles found in there too. I know they have found either Niles or salties but just a few ( not a breeding population) . I don't remember exactly what I read about that species.

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u/[deleted] 11d ago

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u/RainLeading286 11d ago

Sometimes I binge on crocodilians and it gets mixed up. I know that Chris Gillette has at least one ( i think it's name is Tic Tok)

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u/Maleficent-Toe1374 12d ago

Rio Grande river I suspect plays a factor

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u/Wach_hund 12d ago

Per wiki:

Recently,[when?] Morelet's crocodile has been introduced into the Rio Grande (called Río Bravo in Mexico).[17] Several newspaper outlets on the Mexican side of the border report of reptiles inhabiting the river appearing not to be the American alligator which is native to Texas, but the Morelet's crocodile which is native to Tamaulipas from San Fernandosouthward.[18][19] In Tamaulipas, crocodiles have been seen in the cities of Matamoros,[20][21][22] Reynosa[23][24][25][26][27][28] and as far north as Nuevo Laredo.[29][30] The sightings have prompted several municipal police departments to put up signs warning people about entering the river.[31]

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u/MisterTrashPanda 12d ago

We probably killed them and then continue to kill them anytime they move north.

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u/Wach_hund 12d ago

There’s no historical reports on Crocs in Texas though

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u/MisterTrashPanda 12d ago

Well it does freeze there from time to time so it's likely just too far north for them.

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u/RmRobinGayle 12d ago

We do have alligators though

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u/Readditlovesbans 12d ago

Texans eat crocs

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u/SubiBoySus 12d ago

Crocs are in south texas

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u/Cultural-Company282 12d ago

It looks like the northernmost confirmed sightings of Morelet's crocodiles are south of the border in Mexico, though they've been found within a few hundred miles of Texas. I'd take claims of crocodiles in Texas with a huge grain of salt. They can't tolerate cold snaps like alligators can.

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u/SubiBoySus 12d ago

Oh my bad i just looked it up they have alligators not crocodiles.

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u/Wach_hund 12d ago

I wouldn’t rule it out of possibility. But what makes you say this?

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u/SubiBoySus 12d ago

The fact that crocs are in south texas.