but wtf is this then? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_crocodile

Well, it is true you might find a few in the Everglades--I just saw it's estimated to be about 2,000 crocs in Florida.

Meanwhile there are over 1,250,000 alligators found all across the state.

Mmmm that doesn't sound like many crocs at all. It's almost as if they're endangered. The population of Salt Water Crocs is exploding in northern Australia to somewhere between 100,000 to 200,000.


 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-24/nt-charles-darwin-university-study-crocodile-number-spike/12911282

Looking at good friends in my life:

MALE: Russ had snakes & lizards, also loved dogs.

FEMALE: Sue loved her two poodles, liked birds a lot.

MALE: Mazen loved dogs clearly.

FEMALE: Tara was a cat person through and through. F dogs.

MALE: Chris was into hamsters and iguanas. Had both.

FEMALE: Lisa was so into pugs. That kind of dog obsessed her. She later started a city charity support group for them and their owners.

Little pattern here...

My dad loved dogs, cats liked him more than he liked them, fish and birds were only food to him.

I loved ALL animals: had an angora cat as an infant, collie and his best friend our rooster; had a rabbit just before kindy, had a dog, cat, cats, rabbits, cat, dog, birds, fish, cats, cats since.

In Korea? My director gave me two Jindo puppies which I raised and gave to a farmer because my rooftop apartment was no place for a full-grown Jindo. A director gave me his family's two birds and I took care of them until I changed jobs and returned them; a Canadian e2 visa teacher gave me his hamster, though months later it died for no apparent reason; i rescued a kitten from a busy road and the old woman who had its mother tied up (to scare away rodents from her produce, apparently) waved me to keep it, though I ended up giving it up to someone in Seoul (i went overseas for months); had another director give me two kittens and I still have those two awesome cats now, eight years later.

Why is the football team called the Florida 'gators? And I mean football, not that pansy sport called soccer!

Why is the football team called the Florida 'gators? And I mean football, not that pansy sport called soccer!

I'm guessing because Alligators are more impressive, fierce, photogenic, and, uh, athletic than the various other animals in the panhandle like musk rats, Culex mosquitoes, and meth addicts.

I'd say that's much less puzzling than the Hamilton Tiger Cats. 

Or the Ottawa Red Blacks. What does that even mean. Tiger Cats I get. But what is a Red Black. Let's not delve into a 9 team league with two having the same name.

Or the Ottawa Red Blacks. What does that even mean. Tiger Cats I get. But what is a Red Black. Let's not delve into a 9 team league with two having the same name.

But gators are native to Florida and can be found everywhere.  Tiger Cats are not native to southern Ontario or the Hamilton region.  Gators as a Florida team is an obvious one. 

Exactly!

Toronto Blue Jays - fine!

Manitoba Moose - excellent!

Hamilton… Raccoons? Squirrels? Bears?   Nah… tigers!

How about the Ohio State Buckeyes?
Or the Stanford Cardinal?

How about the Ohio State Buckeyes?

Wa...? The official tree of Ohio is the Buckeye. It's everywhere there.