Alligator on Way to Becoming State Reptile

JACKSON, Miss. – It might not have the hard bite of some other legislation, but a bill to designate the American alligator as Mississippi’s state reptile is on its way to the governor.

The bill cleared the House 106-10 on Monday. It passed the Senate by a wide margin on Feb. 2.

House Rules Committee Chairman Joe Warren, D-Mount Olive, said he had been inundated with letters from Gulf Coast school children pushing for the bill.

He said biologists with the state Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks told him American alligators have been around for more than 200 million years.

“They have been here since before the dinosaurs,” Warren said.

There was no debate, and Warren’s explanation of the bill took about a minute.

Mississippi already has several official symbols. The mockingbird is the state bird. Petrified wood is the state stone. The teddy bear is the state toy.

Rep. Cecil Brown, D-Jackson, said he voted against the alligator bill as a protest because he believes lawmakers should spend their time on weightier matters, like Medicaid and education.

And, Brown added with a smile: “I also personally like the water moccasin.”

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The bill is Senate Bill 2060.