Eat You Later, Alligator.

• Author: Peterson, Eric

FOR NOW, THE GATORS AT MOSCA'S TILAPIA HATCHERY ARE AN EXPERIMENT. SOMEDAY, THEY MAY BE YOUR SHOES.

The year was 1987, and Erwin and Lynne Young had a problem. The owners of the Rocky Mountain White Tilapia fish hatchery in Mosca needed an efficient way to clean up fish waste; that is, dead fish. They found a reptilian answer: alligators. Erwin Young purchased 100 yearling gators, hoping to raise a fleet of living, breathing trash compactors.

Colorado Gators was born.

The leathery beasts have since thrived in an outdoor geothermal pool well-heated to 87 F, to the point where living fish now need to be sacrificed to the gators' hunger. Some have grown more than 11 feet long.

The alligators have adjusted surprisingly well to a climate almost opposite the Everglades'. "They'll actually get up on the snow and sunbathe," said jay Young, farm manager, and Erwin and Lynne's son.

Jay Young said the alligators have climbed out of the water on 0 F days, resulting in ice-frosted scales. "They're like tires," he said of the gators' ability to absorb warmth from sunlight.

While the alligators weather the Rockies far better than the Youngs initially expected, breeding the animals has proved much more laborious. After several unsuccessful attempts, 1997 proved to be a landmark year: 24 hatchlings emerged from more than 1,000 eggs. In 1998, 17 more were born.

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