Crocodiles and alligators are very clever at stalking, capturing, and killing their prey. The gharial crocodile, which has a long narrow snout, eats mainly fish, and it captures its prey by a rapid sideways snap of its tooth lined jaw. Alligators and crocodiles with broader snouts also eat fish, but their diets vary according to their age. The young ones eat mainly insects, spiders, crabs and small frogs. They will circle their prey with their bodies and then snap them up with a sideways movement of their jaws.
Adult crocodiles and alligators feed on small mammals, birds, turtles and other reptiles. They will approach their prey stealthily with their bodies submerged under water and only their eyes and tip of their snout above the water. When they are near the prey, they submerge themselves completely… and then rear up with a few strokes of their powerful tails. Their vice like, tooth lined jaws snap shut with an enormous force that kills the smaller prey immediately. Larger animals are dragged underwater, drowned, and then killed and eaten – sometimes over the span of several days.