What happens to an alligator when frigid temperatures come?

He sticks his nose out of water. He lets it freeze around him.

A blast of cold weather hit Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, last week. Gators at The Swamp Park Outdoor Adventure Center froze. Social media videos show the animals in ice. Just the tips of their snouts poke out.

In one video, Assistant Manager Scott Perry gets up close with one of the icy “swamp puppies.” He reaches out to “boop” its nose. The beast doesn’t move. Still, Mr. Perry warns, “Don’t do this at home.”

Alligators are cold-blooded. They can’t control their own temperature. But God created them with a unique ability to survive a freeze. When temperatures drop, they go into a state called brumation. They get sluggish, but they keep breathing.

“Eyes closed and just the nostrils sticking up out of the water, just enough to breathe,” General Manager George Howard explains in a video. He guesses the gator in the video is about nine or 10 feet long. “The entire body is suspended under the water. Pretty fantastic.”

But it doesn’t last long. By Tuesday, temperatures had risen. Mr. Howard says the alligators returned to normal.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! — Psalm 150:6