Be selective in your pugilism

   Gazing at an alligator I begin to realize how these well-armored creatures have managed to hang on this long given how the globe has changed in the last, oh, 200 million years.
   They keep a low, low profile; they dine on creatures that are slower (and tastier) than themselves; and they pick only fights they are likely to win.
  Not the fleetest of foot (and such short legs {adding to the low profile}), gators slowly slink along never too far from water where they can run and hide if they feel threatened. Once in the water they are discernible only by the occasional blink of the bulbous, top-mounted eyeballs — alligators really look like a piece of wood drifting in the water.
  What to eat? Well, what's slower than a turtle? Except for the crunchy shells that can get lodged twixt the gnarly teeth, turtle is a delicacy even enjoyed by humans and if a dozing frog or basking snake makes its way into the reptilian maw, well, so much the better. Again the low profile compensates for the rather prehistoric mobility issue.
   And primarily, the gator doesn't want anymore than it has and would rather hide than attack when feeling crowded. Sure, if a yapping, yipping poodle gets too close it will likely be followed by silence and an empty dog collar, but isn't this more of a service than a sin?
   Gators will, when threatened by a larger being, lock their jaws around the intruder and drag him back into the water where the "living fossil" enjoys a 'home field advantage' and wins the contest by submerging the unfortunate non-reptile.
   Of course the creatures can get outnumbered by hunters, armed with nets, guns and other technology, and are harvested to make boots and luggage {how humiliating that must be [can you shoo away the creatures by waving a carry-on bag of a former relative, or  would that drive them into a frenzy?]}.
   But by and large, alligators have made it this far by having a keen sense of when to run and when to fight and most of the time they run (scurry is more like it).
   Pretty smart; they'll probably outlive us because of it.