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THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



Domesticated 





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NATURE 



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ALLIGATORS AS PETS. 



BY DR. G. A. IIIWKX, CINCINNATI, 0. 



Almost twelve years ago a friend of- 

 fered me an alligator which he had 

 received as a gift, but which he was 

 "unable to appreciate." It was a eold 

 day in February when 1 called to ^et 

 the gator; so 1 wrapped it in my book 

 bag. My joy knew no bounds, for 1 had 

 often hoped and wished for a pet alli- 

 gator; but joy was soon turned to sor- 

 row, lor father would not permit me to 

 keep it. Alligators had most unsavory 

 reputations ; they were man-eaters, etc., 

 etc. So the little fellow (he was scarce- 

 ly ten inches long), was taken to the 

 University, where he was to be dissected, 

 and 1 could then retain the skeleton. 

 Arriving there, the Professor of Biology 

 handled the little stranger with impun- 

 ity, and said it would be a pity to kill 

 so small and inoffensive a creature. 

 "Take it home and make a pet of it," 

 was the professor's advice, knowing how 

 successful I had been with snakes, 

 turtles, frogs and like animals. So after 

 promising to keep the terrible beast in 

 a strong enclosure lest he get out and 

 eat up the cat and the dogs. I was finally 

 allowed to keep the meek little Flori- 

 dian. 



I he literature being very meagre as 

 to the food of these animals, I was at 

 a loss what and how to feed my new- 

 arrival. .Meat was fastened to a pole, 

 and with another pole (and they were 

 quite long I assure you), an effort was 

 made to pry open the poor beast's jaws; 

 all efforts proved unavailing and so we 

 finally stopped in despair. 



Weeks went by and the mutual fear 

 which had been inculcated by the 'ga- 

 tor's hissing and our prodding, gradually 

 gave way to a feeling of confidence and 

 good fellowship. Spring with its warm 



days and cool nights stirred the 'gator 

 to some activity, for it would bask in 

 the sun during the day and go into the 

 water at night ; but no attempt was made 

 at feeding and my hopes sank, fearing 

 the poor creature would surely starve to 

 death. Hut one day at the besdnnin"- of 

 June my wish was gratified, for gator 

 snapped up a big blue-bottle fly I had 

 thrown into his tank. Flies, spiders, 

 earthworms, and cockroaches were now 

 taken readily and 'gator began to thrive. 

 his lean sides began to fill and be grew 

 stouter and heavier. 



i )n dark and cloudy days, especially 

 when there was a drop in the tempera- 

 ture his appetite diminished, but on hot 

 sunny days it knew no bounds. About 

 the middle of September he ceased eating 

 altogether and absolutely refused all 

 food until the following .May or June. 

 Even fish, the favorite diet, will not 

 tempt the 'gator during the winter 

 months. 



For two years 'gator lived alone in 

 a vivarium with a number of tortoises 

 frogs and snakes, but one day I received 

 another little fellow, and the two have 

 lived on the best terms of friendship ever 

 since. The second one was about as 

 large as the first one had been when I 

 had received him, but he was not as 

 strong nor quite as plump. 



The gathering of a pint or two of 

 earthworms every day soon grew to be 

 an enormous problem, and after three 

 years all my available supply .had be- 

 come exhausted. I was now confronted 

 by what seemed a most difficult problem, 

 viz., finding a substitute for the worms. 

 Fish were expensive and hard to get, 

 and furthermore, they could only be ob- 

 tained on certain days of the week; flies 

 were too small and it required entirely 

 too many, and the "chameleons" took 



