American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) are important to the ecology of their habitat. During droughts they dig deep holes, or dens, which provide water for the wildlife community. They hibernate in the dens during winter. These animals can be found in fresh and brackish marshes, ponds, lakes, rivers, swamps, bayous, and big spring runs from coastal, southeast North Carolina to the Florida Keys and west along the coastal plain to Southern Texas; north to extreme southeast Oklahoma and southern Arkansas.