176 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



tails, and scars, seem to prove these fierce encounters do 

 take place. According to many of our marsh-dwellers and 

 hide hunters, cows do not mate every year, and young cows, 

 those of about 5, 6 and 7 feet, do most of the fighting. Old 

 cows do not appear to be so pugnacious. The bull stays 

 with the cow only two or three days, then leaves for virgin 

 territory. The copulating period extends through March 

 and April to some time in May. 



It has long been supposed that it required from twenty- 

 five to thirty years for the alligator to reach sexual ma- 

 turity, but, from investigations, it is quite likely that the 

 cows may lay eggs as early as five or six years, although 

 this remains to be definitely proved. 



These reptiles, when they do not choose bayous or other 

 large bodies of water, make their homes in what are known 

 as "gator holes." These holes are of varying sizes and 

 depths, but always there is a cave constructed below the 

 surface running at right angles to the sides. These caves 

 are sometimes fifteen to twenty feet in length, and, while 

 they are constructed in "holes," they are also made in the 

 banks of bayous and lakes. Above such caves, and on the 

 surface of the ground, is always to be found a smooth place 

 where the vegetation is worn away. This is where the 

 'gator regularly has its sleep in the sun. When the habitat 

 is in a bayou this sleeping place takes the form of a "shelf" 

 on the side of the bayou. The 'gator uses the subterranean 

 cave as a retiring place during the cooler winter months 

 when it hibernates. 



The alligator perpetuates its race by laying eggs from 

 which the young emerge. Nesting starts by the first week 

 in June. This work is done entirely by the female, as the 

 male, after the mating season, takes no interest in the 

 propagation of his species. The nesting site is in most in- 

 ^ances a dry piece of ground, sometimes an acre or two, 

 rrom the "hole," at other times but twenty feet away, or 

 right on the edge of the watery hole. This seems to be 

 controlled wholly by the nature of the adjacent ground. 



