KSC-06pd0996

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - This alligator is on the move next to a canal at the Press Site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. It may be on the hunt for food or for love (May and June are mating season on the Space Coast). Alligators are plentiful in the canals, ponds and marshes around the Center, which shares a boundary with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge is a habitat for more than 310 species of birds, 25 mammals, 117 fishes and 65 amphibians and reptiles. In addition, the Refuge supports 19 endangered or threatened wildlife species on Federal or State lists, more than any other single refuge in the U.S. Photo credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley