I live in South Carolina (where the gators are plentiful) and this question came up a lot during discussions in the Heather Elvis case. From what I understand, gators don't hibernate in the truest sense of the word. Rather, they go through a process known as brumation. While brumation is similar to hibernation in many ways, it's also quite different in others. Alligators don't sleep during brumation in the same way that a bear sleeps during hibernation. It's more like their metabolism slows down to such a degree that they become immobilized. If there's a bout of warm weather in the area for a few days (which isn't uncommon in the southeastern United States), they often emerge from their burrows to gather warmth from the sun. However, they are much less aggressive and don't feed during these instances. Also, because temperatures drastically change day to day during the fall months in the southeast, alligators tend to be more influenced by the number of hours in a day than by the temperature. Wildlife often begins to prepare for the colder months ahead when the days start getting shorter.
