34 The Alligator and Its Allies 



value to the alligator there are other ways in 

 which it has some economic importance. Chief 

 of these is probably the sale of alligator goods 

 to tourists. In 1891 there were in Jacksonville, 

 Florida, twelve dealers in live and stuffed alligators. 

 In 1890, 8400 alligators were sold to tourists, the 

 price for the live animals varying from $10.00 to 

 $35 per hundred. For individual animals of the 

 smallest size (less than twelve inches long) the 

 price is usually from 50 cents to $1.00. For a 

 three-foot alligator the price is generally $3-$5.oo; 

 for sizes over three feet $2.00 per foot may be 

 charged, though for very large specimens the price 

 may be from $50 to $300 each. 



Besides the live and stuffed animals the teeth 

 are polished and sold as souvenirs; about 450 

 pounds of teeth were sold in 1890, at a price vary- 

 ing from $1.00 to $2.00 per pound. From 75 to 

 200 teeth will make a pound. 



In 1891 about forty people, in addition to the 

 regular dealers, were engaged, in the United States, 

 in stuffing alligators, polishing teeth, etc. The 

 teeth are extracted by burying the head until 

 decomposition sets in. 



The tiny alligators that are most commonly 

 sold to tourists, to be brought North, perhaps, 

 and allowed to freeze or starve to death, may 

 either be caught by a wire noose at the end of a 

 fishing rod, or they may be hatched from eggs that 

 are taken from the nests shortly before they are 



