20 The Alligator and Its Allies 



neighborhood. Whatever may be the sexual differ- 

 ences during the mating season, at ordinary times 

 the two sexes are so much alike that I have, on 

 more than one occasion, seen experienced hunters 

 disagree as to the supposed sex of an alligator that 

 had just been killed. 



Although I have never seen a nest actually during 

 the process of construction, it is easy to imagine, 

 after the examination of a large number of freshly 

 made nests, what the process must be like. 



The alligator, probably the female, as the male, 

 after the mating season, takes no interest whatever 

 in the propagation of his species, selects a slight 

 elevation on or near the bank of the "hole" 

 in which she lives. This elevation is generally, 

 though not always, a sunny spot, and is frequently 

 at the foot of a small tree or clump of bushes. 

 Where the alligator is living in a large swamp she 

 may have to go a considerable distance to find a 

 suitable location for her nest; when her hole is 

 scarcely more than a deep, overgrown puddle, as 

 is often the case in the less swampy regions, she 

 may find a good nesting place within a few feet of 

 her cave. That the female alligator stays in the 

 neighborhood of her nest after she has filled it 

 with eggs seems pretty certain, but that she defends 

 it from the attacks of other animals is extremely 

 doubtful: certainly man is in very little danger 

 when he robs the nest of the alligator, and, accord- 

 ing to the statement of reliable hunters, bears are 



