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Imagine this: you and your best friend are calmly paddling your canoe through the bayou. The sky is high and colorless, the water is as still as bottle glass. Your friend suggests that you both pull the canoe to the water’s edge, because it’s right around lunchtime, and your stomachs are growling. As you maneuver the light boat under an overhanging tree, dripping with Spanish moss, your paddle brushes against a log… Or at least what you thought was a log.

Before you know it that log is thrashing around, snapping its jaws, stirring up the water with its powerful tail. You are both yelling at the top of your lungs, your hearts beating like tom-tom drums. But as quickly as the commotion began, it’s over, and both of you are left with your mouths open slightly, and one question on the tips of your tongues: was that an alligator or a crocodile?

Okay, maybe that wouldn’t be the first thought to pop into your brain after you’ve come in contact with a member of the crocodilian family. But, come on, haven’t you ever wondered what differentiates the two reptiles? They both have scales, those creepy yellow eyes and lots of teeth, but how can you identify the difference between a croc’ and a ‘gator?

For one thing, even though both creatures inhabit freshwater areas, the crocodile has a salt producing glands which might suggest that the croc has become a fresh-water fan more recently than the alligator who does not possess these glands. The salt water crocodile, which can grow to lengths of 20 feet, can withstand exposure to saltwater, whereas most alligators cannot tolerate it.

Well, in case you don’t want to lift open the reptile’s mouth to check for those salt glands, there are easier ways to tell the two apart. Alligators, for example, have a U-shaped snout which is very powerful and helpful when cracking open turtle shells and other hard-shelled invertebrates. (Yikes!) Crocodiles, on the other hand, have a V-shaped snout which seems to be more helpful when snapping fish between the jaws (Yikes again!) However, since there are two dozen species of crocodilians, this rule of snout identification does not always apply.

If you’re still not sure whether you’ve spotted a ‘gator or a ‘croc, take another look at the mouth of the reptile. If it has teeth that only jut out of the top, you’ve come in contact with an alligator. Crocodile teeth protrude from the bottom as well as the top of the mouth, giving them a verrry toothy smile.

Both alligators and crocodiles possess sensory bumps on their upper and lower jaws. These bumps, which help the reptiles to detect changes in water pressure, may also aid in the location of prey. Crocodiles, however, have these bumps on almost every scale covering their bodies. Does that make them more sensitive than alligators? It’s possible, since crocodiles are purported to exhibit more aggressive behavior, that all of those sensory organs make them more “touchy.” But who really wants to get into that bayou to find out? YIKES!