178 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



Incubating the Eggs 



Having selected the location of the nest, the cow pro- 

 ceeds to collect, in all likelihood biting it off with her teeth, 

 a great mass of whatever vegetation is most abundant in 

 her immediate vicinity. She carries the paille fine, bulrush, 

 three-cornered rush, cat-tail, saw grass, or other marsh 

 vegetation in her mouth and piles it into a rounded heap 

 from 18 to 20 inches high, and from three to four feet 

 across. This first layer completed, the first eggs are laid 

 and then grass is added and more eggs laid, until the nest 

 reaches a height of three feet. A seven to eight foot alliga- 

 tor will build to this size. The eggs are incubated by the 

 heat of the sun, inasmuch as the sun helps in the decompo- 

 sition of the vegetable matter of which the nest is com- 

 posed, as the interior is always damp and the heat gene- 

 rated remains quite constant. The bottom grass is always 

 wet, as are the first layers, then comes dry grass, forming 

 a sort of "fireless cooker." The top layer is sloped so that 

 rain will run off rather than wet the contents. 



Observations tend to show that a five-foot alligator wiil 

 lay about 25 eggs ; a six-footer will lay about 35 eggs, and 

 a seven-footer will lay up to 40 eggs; this seems to be the 

 maximum number laid, although a trapper in the Atcha- 

 falaya River country reports having taken 72 eggs from one 

 nest on a small island in the river. 



The precise period of incubation has not been worked 

 out. Figures show that a nest was first observed July 5, 

 when the eggs had not been laid more than a few days ; the 

 hatching commenced September 7, making the incubation 

 period about nine weeks. Eggs taken from the nest and 

 hatched away from the place where laid take longer. The 

 percentage of fertile eggs is as a rule very high, most of the 

 infertile eggs being found in the nests of the five-and six- 

 footers. 



Cows from 4 feet 9 inches to 5 feet have been found 

 making nests and laying eggs. The maximum length of 

 cows seems to be about nine feet, rarely over. All of the 

 big 'gators are bulls and, while the largest seem to be 



