54 THE ALLIGATOR'S LIFE HISTORY 



fish are scarce, and where garfish are scarce, then game fish 

 such as bass and perch accumulate in numbers. 



After hatching, the young take no food for a number of 

 days, and then feed very sparingly on such little fish, in- 

 sects and other small creatures as they can catch and swal- 

 low while in the limited area in which their mother keeps 

 them. I have seen mother alligators catch large fish, large 

 snakes, and turtles in their jaws and crush them to a pulp, 

 holding them at the surface of the water between their jaws, 

 so that the young could gather bits of food from the crushed 

 flesh. The young would grasp the food in their mouths 

 and with vigorous shakes of the head tear off bits of it which 

 they would swallow exactly as the old ones do, by raising 

 their head in the air and gulping down the food. I find in 

 going through my notes on the alligator that I have wit- 

 nessed this method of young alligators getting food on eight 

 different occasions four times on garfish, twice on snakes, 

 and twice on turtles. 



In catching their food, small alligators lie in wait and 

 with a swift side motion of the head catch insects, crawfish, 

 crabs, fish and other small creatures that may come to them. 

 They also swim after and catch birds and small animals 

 they may see swimming. 



Large alligators, that is ones eight feet and more in 

 length, usually hunt their prey. I have seen them, how- 

 ever, lie in wait for fish. In doing this they always place 

 their head counter to the way the tide is running, and on 

 the edge of an exposed flat or sandbar. In this position 

 they wait until a school of fish following the tide close to 

 the bank comes between their tail and the bank, when with a 

 quick sweep of the tail some of the fish may be thrown onto 

 the bank. If a lucky stroke has been made, the alligator 

 then crawls out and picks up his catch with his mouth, 

 throwing up and back his head, swallowing whatever he 

 has captured. In making grabs at the wriggling victim at 

 times the alligator also catches up pieces of driftwood or 



