Scaly babies and mothers
A large American alligator crawls into some thorny bushes. She pulls up
bushes with her mouth. She stamps her feet. Soon, she has macle a wide,
clear place. She makes a pile of mud and plants. She scoops a hole in
the top of the pile and lays as many as fifty eggs in the hole. Then she
covers the eggs with mouthfuls of mud and plants.
For two months the mother alligator stays by her nest. One day she hears
little grunting noises. She tears the nest open with her teeth. Tiny
baby alligators blink at the sudden bright sunshine.
Alligators take care of their eggs until they hatch. But most reptile
mothers just lay their eggs and leave. Their babies never see them.
Mother turtles dig holes in mud or sand. They lay then\’ eggs in the
holes. Then they cover up the eggs and go away. The warm sun hatches the
eggs. The baby turtles dig their way out of the nest and crawl to the
water.
Most mother snakes just lay their eggs and crawl away, too. But a few
kinds of snakes wrap themselves around their eggs until they hatch. When
the eggs hatch, the mothers leave.
A mother alligator puts her eggs inside a nest of mud and grass. When
the eggs hatch, the mother tears the nest open.
