108 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [Mar,, 



THE REPTILES. 



I. TURTLES, LIZARDS, AND ALLIGATOR. 



BY ALBERT H. WRIGHT AND W. D. FUNKHOUSER. 



Although the Okefinokee Swamp represents one of the most 

 interesting regions in the southeastern United States for the study 

 of reptihan hfe, practically no records have been made of this part 

 of its fauna. The following paper is intended as a preliminary 

 contribution toward a knowledge of the herpetology of this area — 

 an area which is sure to prove a rich field for zoological work when 

 suitable provision has been made to render its interior more accessible. 



Few attempts have been made to enter the Okefinokee for scientific 

 purposes. The swamp, in its earlier history, was a centre for beau- 

 tiful Indian legends and mythical tales; in later times, this pathless 

 wilderness occasioned a weird medley of stories, many of which 

 reflect its supposedly dangerous attributes. The miasmatic effect 

 of the "black mud, the stench from which soon became so intoler- 

 able as to induce vomiting," impresses Captain Rodenbough (1838)^ 

 as its worst characteristic; while another considers it " very dangerous 

 to the health of man especially to recent arrivals in the country; 

 .... in the Okefinokee mosquitoes sometimes rise in such swarms 

 that the trees are only seen dimly as through a dust-storm." But 

 with natives and travellers alike, a deterrent more powerful than 

 either of these behefs are the dreaded reptiles within its borders. 

 Paul Fountain,- in his A Day in a Cypress Swamp (Okefinokee), 

 devotes practically his entire chapter to these cold-blooded creatures. 

 He says: "A greater number of reptiles may be found in this 

 swamp than in any other spot I know of in the States," and our 

 experience proves it a veritable paradise for the herpetologist. 



Professor A. M. Reese,^ when searching for clues to the breeding 

 habits of the alligator, made a trip to the Okefinokee in the summer 

 of 1905. He says: 



"In the summer of 1906 the Okefinokee was again visited; this time the 

 swamp was penetrated to its centre, and nearly one hundred alHgators were 

 killed by the three hunters with whom I was travelling. It is this vigorous 

 hunting, done chiefly at night, with a bull's-eye lantern and shot-gun, that has 

 so diminished the number of alligators, where, twenty years ago, hundreds 



1 Rodenbough. T. F. From everglades to canon with the Second Dragoons 

 1836-1875. New York. 187.5. Pp. 31, 32. 



- Fountain, Paul. The great deserts and forests of North America. London 

 and New York. 1901. Pp. .52-66. 



3 Reese, A. M. The breeding habits of the Florida Alligator. Smilhsonian 

 Miss. Colls. XLVII {Quarterly Issue, Vol. III.) 1907. Pp. 381, 382. 



