The Crocodilians 



the watery labyrinth of low land and shallow water where tlie 

 mainland of Florida reluctantly sinks into the Gulf." 



South of the United States the American Crocodile has an 

 extensive range. It occurs from central Mexico to Ecuador 

 and in the West Indies, it is more frequently abundant in salt- 

 water marshes. 



Habits. — The Crocodile is a considerably more agile and 

 more vicious reptile than the alligator, yet in a wild state this 

 species does not exhibit hostility toward man. The sight of 

 a child will send a twelve-foot specimen rushing from its basking 

 place for the water, and a man may even bathe with safety in 

 rivers frequented by the species. The dangerous, "man-eating" 

 crocodiles inhabit India and Africa. 



In the habit of choosing certain basking places along the 

 river bank and repeatedly crawling into these spots to sun, this 

 creature resembles the alligator. It usually selects "water 

 holes" (deep places in the streams) as its lair and here hides 

 under the shelving bank on the lookout for food. 



Of the nine captive specimens that have, at various times, 

 been under the writer's observation, all have exhibited a uniform 

 viciousness approaching actual hostility. This in direct op- 

 position to the reptile's timidity when in a wild state and al- 

 together different from the good-natured demeanour of captive 

 alligators which learn to follow their keeper about like dogs, 

 feed from his hands and permit the man to walk over their backs 

 in unceremonious fashion. One captive (Florida) crocodile 

 was so hostile that it would chase the keeper from its enclosure 

 if he attempted to enter and for a quarter of an hour or more 

 would hiss with much vigour and snap its jaws with rage. An- 

 other large specimen permitted the keeper to enter the paddock, 

 but could never be trusted as it would frequently turn upon the 

 man with wonderful agility. This creature could actually run, 

 with some speed and grace, the body raised fully a foot from 

 the ground. Compared with the clumsy movements of an alli- 

 gator, its activity was surprising for a creature of so similar a 

 structure. In spite of their ugliness, these captive crocodiles 

 were voracious in their feeding and anxious enough to take 

 food from their keeper's hand — in fact so greedy were the brutes 

 that they were very dangerous. They would spring half their 

 length out of the water by suddenly elevating the heavy tail, 



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