28 The Alligator and Its Allies 



commerce, may cease to exist in our Southern 

 States. 



It has been claimed that the destruction of the 

 alligator has allowed the cane rat and muskrat 

 to increase to a serious extent, the former doing 

 great damage to crops, the latter often injuring 

 the levees to a dangerous extent. Legislation to 

 forbid the killing of alligators of less than five feet 

 in length has been suggested and should be passed, 

 since animals of less size have almost no commercial 

 value for leather. 



In 1902, the annual output from the tanneries 

 of the United States approximated 280,000 skins, 

 worth about $420,000. Of these about fifty-six 

 per cent, came from Mexico and Central America, 

 twenty-two per cent, from Florida, twenty per 

 cent, from Louisiana, and the remaining two per 

 cent, from the other Gulf States. South American 

 hides are not handled by the United States markets. 



In 1908, there were marketed from the South 

 Atlantic and Gulf States 372,000 pounds of alligator 

 hides, valued at $61,000. 



According to the United States Bureau of 

 Fisheries the hunter in 1891 averaged about 60 

 cents for the skin, while in 1902 the price averaged 

 about 90 cents, varying between 15 cents and $2.00, 

 depending on the size and condition of the skin. 

 'Prime hides five feet long, with no cuts, scale 

 slips, or other defects, are worth about 95 cents 

 each, in trade, when the hunter sells them at the 



