Alligators are everywhere in the Everglades - they quietly wait for something - anything - to wander near and then strike. They may be 12 or 14 inches long when they are 2 years old and average about 13 feet and 800 pounds when they are 40 or 50 years old. This one was lying quietly near the path of a cyprus swamp that was the set of "Adaptation", a movie based on Susan Orlean's book "The Orchid Thief".